Even the purest light creates a shadow
by Daikari Writers Union
Summary: Davis, after seeing TK and Kari together, gets involved with a fanatic bent on saving the digital world for it's
1. Disclaimer and Foreword

DISCLAIMER AND THOUGHTS ON THE FIC.  
  
By the authors.  
********  
  
Disclaimer: None of us own Digimon, the rights to Digimon, the soundtrack to Digimon, the novelty candy made to look like Digimon, the cheap-ass toys made to tie in with Digimon, or toenail clippings shaped like Digimon.  
  
*********   
In the beginning...  
By Ben Myatt.  
  
IN April of 2002, I was looking around the Daikari section for FFnet, and the thought suddenly struck me that it might be a good idea to get as many Daikari writers together, and attempt to write a giant fic. (More fool me!)  
  
So, whilst this idea was burning it's way through my head, I logged on to hotmail, and sent a short email, asking as many authors as I could find email addresses to join this little venture.  
  
It went better than I'd hoped.   
  
Most people replied, and quite a few were interested, but because of various other commitments, couldn't get involved. Some just turned me down out of hand, but by the end of it, I had seven other authors ready to get involved.   
  
I had already set up a group on Yahoo, for reasons that I wont go into here, and when Digivice pointed out to me how difficult the editing would be via email-strings, I sent out a message to all involved parties asking them to join this webring. Well, most of them did, except for Anthony, who I kept posted on events via email, and then…  
  
It all went quiet. We all had other stuff to do, so the fic took a backseat to other commitments for a while. Eventually, it took a post from Dream_chan to jump-start us again, and the ideas started pouring in, in earnest.  
  
One of our members dropped out, but we carried on regardless, (She'd never bothered to post anyways!) and the following story is the product of what we came up with.  
  
We're taking one chapter each, and I hope to hell that it works, cos I wouldn't want this to be a failure after all the entertainment we had.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
- Ben.  
  
********  
  
MY Disclaimer: I claim to own Digimon. I also claim to own the Sun, Mars, the United States Government, Microsoft, and a Daisuke plushie. What I claim has little to do with what I own, saddly...  
  
********  
  
This is my story....  
-Jordan LeDoux [DarkStar01]  
  
From the very begginning of my time here at ff.net, I have known the way the world turns: Takari is the majority, Daikari's what I like.  
  
With not many Daikari, or for that matter, remotely Davis-supporting authors out there, it was pretty easy to find some authors that I liked. It started out with me just searching for Daikari stories, but the same author names kept coming up, over and over. The same people kept reviewing my Daikari stories.  
  
Within a short month, I had a top five list of my favorite authors, who often wrote well, at a level well above that of the majority of my friends. Sometimes I wish that we could all meet in person, but uh.... like my disclaimer points out, what I want has little to do with reality.  
  
So when I got the e-mail from Ben asking me if I wanted to write a conglmerate fic, that was Daikari oriented, I completely, 100%, without a second thought, signed my name away to whatever group we were.  
  
All in all, this fic has some big names behind it in the world of Daikari, at least in my eyes. Including authors such as Digivice, my very first reviewer ever, Ben Myatt, whom I first came accross when I read "As Long As She's Happy", Anthony, one of the most helpful and supportive, as well as creative people I have met in a while, and myself of course.  
  
In all honesty, I'm pretty sure that I don't know any of the other authors like I do Anthony, Digivice or Ben, (don't recognize the e-mails ~_^), but I hope that this fic at least lives up to Digivice's, Ben's, and of course my own standards. When it's all over, I hope that you remeber us all for our contribution to the silent end of the Digimon section, because no matter how silent it is, it's still important, at least to me.  
  
I part with this, which is a clip of a poem I wrote titled "The Race"  
  
'When all things are said and done,  
There will be only one.  
Who should fight and who should win,  
Is it me, or my kin.  
Whoever is meant for this great baton,  
I will finish the race that must be won.'  
  
Ciao  
  
-Jordan[DarkStar01]  
  
******** 


	2. Chapter 1 By Ben Myatt

Even the purest light creates a shadow.

Chapter 1:

By Ben Myatt.

********

He had seen them.

As Davis 'Daisuke' Motomiya walked through the rainy Odaiba streets, he looked inside himself, searching for some reason why he had lost again.

Kari and TK. It all came back to them, no matter which way he looked at it, he could find no other reason for why he felt so miserable. And so here he was, walking in the rain.

He closed his eyes, and allowed the water to run over his skin, mingling with the tears that leaked from beneath the lids. He kicked a stone that lay in the street, sending it spinning across the road.

The fourteen year old carried on walking, barely noticing the sound of footsteps coming up behind him.

"Davis?"

He stopped. It was Kari's voice, but strangely, he didn't feel the same quickening of his heart that he always had before. All he felt was emptiness. He didn't stop.

"Davis!"

There was an urgency in her voice, and finally, he turned, and his agonized face was enough to make her catch her breath.

"What do you want, Kari?"

She kept her eyes locked with his, as she spoke.

"I need to talk to you…"

"You don't need to say a word!" He yelled.

She recoiled from the vehemence of his words, and the bitterness that was written all over his features was enough to make her blood run cold.

"What do you…?"

"You know damned well what I mean, Kari! I saw you with him! Together, with your goddamn lips wrapped around each other!"

She felt her own anger spike.

"And what the hell does that have to do with you, Davis!? I made my choice, and quite frankly, if you don't like it, you can go to hell!"

"Did you even give a thought to how I would feel, Kari? Huh? Or did you not look far enough to see past yourself? I really liked you, Kari!?! And you didn't even give a damn!"

"You know what? I didn't! All I saw when I looked at you was a spoilt little boy who thought he had to have his own way, because he was the best. What, you thought that because you were our 'Leader…'" she put a mocking emphasis on the word. " …That I would go out with you? You weren't even worth the time of day!"

He just stared at her, still as stone in the downpour. Then he moved. Reaching a hand up to his forehead, he pulled off his goggles; the pair Tai had given him. Without ever tearing his eyes away from hers, he threw them to the floor. Then he turned, and walked away into the rain.

Kari didn't move, for a moment, and the she stepped forward, and picked the goggles from the floor. One of the Lenses had shattered under the impact, and as she looked into them, she realised that she had not only lost a friend, she had lost something else as well.

"Davis! I'm sorry!"

But the only answer was the tapping of the rain on the ground.

=============================================================

Davis walked into his home, and slammed the door. His mother called from the lounge area.

"Davis, Is that you, honey?"

"Yeah."

He went into his room, and closed the door gently behind him. Then he threw himself on the bed, and started to cry.

"Davis?"

DemiVeemon crawled out from under the covers, and came up to stand beside his companion's head.

"What's wrong?"

"Kari… And TK…"

DemiVeemon knew instinctively what the brown-haired boy meant, and sighed.

"Davis… it's not as if we didn't expect it."

Davis rolled over, turning his head away from the small Digimon.

"That doesn't make it hurt any less. Leave me alone."

"Davis…"

"Leave me alone, DemiVeemon!"

DemiVeemon took the hint. He stood, and walked over to the door, pulling it open, he walked out into the lounge area.

=============================================================

Davis didn't know how long he slept, but when he woke, the clock on his bedside table showed him that it was the small hours of the morning. He knew he wouldn't get any more sleep this night, so he walked over to the computer that sat on his desk. Pulling his D3 out on its chain from around his neck, he pressed the activation stud on the side.

"Digi-port, open."

The portal opened on his computer screen, a shining gateway to another world, and he stepped forward, feeling the same disorientation as his molecules were digitised and sent streaming into the bright moonlight of one of the many plains in the digital world.

He looked into the east, and saw the ocean, far beneath the cliffs. With nothing better to do, he started walking towards it. Finally he dropped at the cliff edge, sitting and looking down into the bay.

The tears came again then. He tried desperately to blink them away, but a wretched sob escaped from his throat, and for a moment, he was tempted to stand, and send himself hurling down into the ocean below. At this height, it would be like hitting concrete.

'Daisuke…'

He spun, but seeing no one, he turned back to the cliff face.

'Daisuke…'

Once again he turned, but still there was no one there.

"Daisuke Motomiya."

He jumped, for this time, the voice had seemed more real than before, and it had come from behind him. 

From the cliff edge.

He turned, not without some trepidation.

If he had been expecting a big, monstrous form of evil, he was bitterly disappointed.

The figure that stood there was clothed normally, a battered jacket white t-shirt, faded jeans and scuffed trainers offsetting the mop of brown hair that came down to the figures shoulders.

The young man fixed him with a baleful stare. Davis glared back.

"Okay, who are you, and what do you want?"

"Me? The names Gray. And what I want is you, Motomiya."

"Me?"

Gray sighed.

"Yes, you. Is it that difficult to understand?"

Davis glared at him.

"Why? Why do you want me?" 

In answer, Gray swept his arm in an arc, encompassing the whole of the digital world in its sweep.

"Look at it. So pure, so beautiful. And yet soon enough it's going to be exploited by greedy corporations who want to take it over and use it fro their own ends, just like they do with Earth."

Davis looked unimpressed.

"And what the hell does that have to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you. You're a Digidestined, one of those chosen to defend this place against those who would seek to destroy it. You have a divine duty to keep the Digital world free for those it was intended."

"I know well enough what I'm supposed to do with my time" Snarled Davis.

"What I want to know from you, Gray, if that is your real name, is what you get out of it."

A look of anger crossed the young man's face.

"What do you mean, what do I get out of it? All that I want is to make the digital world free for it's chosen children. Free for those her it was given too."

Davis couldn't hide the scepticism on his face. Gray looked at him sadly.

"I see that you do not believe me. Maybe you are not the right person, as I thought you were."

Davis shrugged.

"Well, forgive me for being cynical, but most people who try and do good in the digital world tend to have their own agenda."

A sad look crossed Gray's face, and he pulled an envelope out of his pocket. 

"I understand that you might be suspicious. I cannot blame you, considering what you have faced before."

He held out the envelope to Davis, but the Digidestined didn't move. Gray dropped the envelope onto the ground.

"Inside the envelope is a SIM card. If you want to learn more, Put it inside a cell phone, and call the number stored in the memory."

He turned, and a Digiport opened. Gray stepped through, and the port closed before Davis could speak again. He stepped forward, and picked up the small envelope. Tucking it into his pocket, he turned, and walked away.

=============================================================

"So you haven't seen him since last night?" Asked Yolei.

She was sitting with Kari and TK in the food court of the Odaiba mall, and they were discussing Davis and Kari's fight of the night before.

Kari looked thoroughly miserable.

"We should have told him." She said quietly.

TK placed his hand over hers.

"Would it have actually made a difference?"

She shook her head.

"I don't know, TK. I just wish it could have been less painful for him…"

"I'm not sure anything could have done that."

She stared at the table, and TK put his hand under her chin, lifting her face. He leant forward, and gently kissed her on the lips.

Unfortunately, Daisuke Motomiya happened to walk into the food court at that moment. He saw TK's hand on Kari's slender wrist. He saw the blonde Digidestined cup Kari's face in his palm. And then he saw TK gently place his lips on hers.

Then Yolei saw him.

"Davis!"

Kari and TK broke apart in shock, and twisted in their seats to look at him. They felt their blood run cold at the look they saw.

Davis's face was dead. No emotion showed on his features. 

Except for his eyes. Those eyes that now burned with sadness, mingled with anger. But the anger seemed to be directed within, at himself, rather than at either TK or Kari. But most apparent was the pain. It was as if that in that simple act of a kiss they had driven a knife deep into his heart. They started to get up, but Davis turned on his heel, and vanished into the crowd.

"Oh god…" whispered Kari.

=============================================================

Davis walked as fast as he could out of the mall, no stopping until he was two blocks away.

He pulled out his cell phone and removed the back. Removing the battery, he pulled out his own SIM card, and placed in the one from the envelope. He turned on the phone, and entered the memory dial-up. The number flashed across the screen, and he held the phone to his ear. The other end was picked up almost immediately.

"Gray." Said the voice.

"This is Daisuke Motomiya. I'm in. whatever it is, I'm in."

=============================================================

In the digital world, Gray turned to the figure that stood in the shadows.

"He's joined us."

"Good, that will help you achieve your cause."

"Why are you helping me?"

"Because I want to see your dreams come true."

And Gray, being pure-minded, believed him.

=============================================================

(A/N)

And that's the first chapter done. Anyone who knows me, and how I write, knows that I tend to regulate the flow of my writing. On this, however, it depends on all of us. We'll get the chapters out, that's a certainty, but timing depends on our various commitments. Please be patient with us.

On a separate subject, we're always on the lookout for new members. If you're interested, contact us on the group email. It's right there on our profile, see???


	3. Chapter 2 By Avalon Merquise

Even the Purest Light Creates a Shadow.  
  
Chapter Two: By Avalon Merquise. ********  
  
Davis stepped out of bed quietly. It was around 2:30 AM, but he was still wide awake, and he'd been lying in the dark for hours. He'd been having the worst trouble sleeping. All week he'd gotten a total of about 7 hours of light, restless sleep.  
  
The harder he tried not to think of Kari and TK, the more it tormented him. He'd try to distract himself and think of other things, soccer, school; he'd try reading boring books, but nothing worked. His mind always found its way back to Kari and TK. and how his whole world was ruined.  
  
'She's gone.' a horrible, tormenting voice told him. 'You've lost her.'  
  
And it made him feel. well, he didn't even know what he felt anymore. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, hurt, hate, hopelessness, and general darkness that left him feeling cold, numb, and empty inside.  
  
Why hadn't he just acted on his feelings earlier? Everyone knew he liked Kari, even Kari herself. He had nothing to lose by simply asking her out. Who knows what it would've led to.  
  
'But now she's with him. Unreachable.'  
  
Moreover, she was mad at him now. He remembered the fight they'd had, he yelled at her, she yelled back, and now she hated him. He would never stand a chance again. God, what an idiot he was.  
  
Another vision of this afternoon entered his head. Kari and TK at the mall. him kissing her. He could tell she liked him, liked being with TK. Kari was TK's now.  
  
'That asshole better feel *damn* lucky,' Davis thought. But he knew TK wouldn't appreciate Kari. He knew that he didn't love Kari as much as Davis did, because no one can come close to loving Kari as much as Davis did.  
  
He sat in his office chair and stared ahead blankly. All was quiet and still inside his house. Outside his open window, streetlights were lit, but the streets were basically quiet. Once in a while a car might drive by. Most of the windows in the houses around Davis's were dark, but here and there a dim light would still be lit for whatever reason. The moon shone faint light through Davis window, and as he made even the most minuscule movements, shadows would dart about the darkened walls.  
  
He turned his head and caught a glimpse of a picture framed on his wall above the bookshelf, the glass illuminated by the moonlight.  
  
It was from last summer. The day of their junior high graduation. It was a perfect and beautiful picture of Kari. She looked so beautiful that day, all dressed up in a glittery pink dress that looked like it was made perfectly for her and her only. It brought out the sparkle in her eyes. Atop her head was a crown of pink roses and white ribbon Davis had made her as a graduation gift. He had spent hours on it, bending the wire, wrapping it in white silk ribbon, inserting the small pink silk roses, and tying long, curled strands of ribbon to the end. It was for Kari, so it had to be perfect. She deserved nothing less than perfection.  
  
He would always clearly remember the moment he gave it to her. Her face lit up with her angelic smile. He set it on her head. She told him she loved it and gave him a huge hug. At that moment, warmth spread throughout his entire body. He would never forget that warmth, and as he thought about it now, it came back to him. He held her close, squeezing her tight. It felt so. right. So perfect. It was wonderful. That was the moment he knew he was truly in love with her, and always would be.  
  
But suddenly, that blissful image shattered. TK entered his head, and the warmth he felt turned to ice, then dark emptiness. TK's obnoxious smiling face mocked him. 'Ha! She's all *mine* now, and there's nothing you can do about it!' he seemed to say. Then Kari came up beside TK and wrapped her slender arms around his neck. TK cupped her face in his hand.  
  
'That should be *me*, Davis thought miserably. *He* should be the one to hold her and feel her warmth, to feel her petal soft skin in his hand, to be the one she loved and cared about and was excited to see every day.  
  
The images in Davis's head decided that they were not done torturing him yet, as, in slow motion, Kari moved her face closer to TK's. closer. closer. his lips brushed her's. and then suddenly they were locked in a passionate kiss, and Davis almost cried out in both physical and emotional pain as he felt his heart being crushed. It was just as bad as the first time he saw it. It was like burning spears being thrust deep into his heart. His blood turned frigid. He couldn't breathe. He felt dizzy.  
  
And then it was gone. Davis found himself back in his room, facing the picture of Kari. He must've dozed off into a dream-no, a nightmare. Sadly, he wished that's all it was. He wished he didn't have to *live* the nightmare.  
  
Rage boiled up in him, and spread through his entire body into his head. Then something in him snapped. He could not take this anymore. He jumped up out of his chair, stepped over to the picture and smashed the glass with his fist. It slid off the wall and face down onto the top of his bookshelf. Davis stood panting, as the rage boiled away. He stared at what he had done in horror, and then slowly sank down into his chair again.  
  
He gave in. Tears started to stream down his face as he watched beads of blood form from the dozens of tiny cuts on his knuckles. But he couldn't feel the pain from the cuts. The pain from Kari and TK, the pain from his life was too strong.  
  
Davis felt sick. He couldn't be here anymore. He couldn't stand to be around his friends. He couldn't take their pity. And he knew that they wouldn't just stop hanging out with TK and Kari. If he hung out with his friends, he'd have to hang out with them, and see them together.  
  
And now he couldn't even be in this world. He needed to get away. He didn't know how long, but he had to go. He had to take a break from all this, and to sort things out.  
  
Davis whirled around to his computer and picked up his D3.  
  
"Digiport open." he whispered.  
  
-----  
  
"He's been gone for two days. At first I thought something came up and he had to go to that digital world, but now that I see the rest of you are still here." Daisuke's mom trailed off. The worry was evident in her voice. She woke to find Davis gone, and he'd been missing without a trace all day. She'd called Kari, and she, TK, Ken, Yolei, and Cody had convened at the Motomiya house.  
  
Kari looked around Davis's bedroom. It was messy at the best of times, but now it looked as if several had ransacked the place. Davis's family had turned it upside-down and inside-out, desperately searching for clues; a note, something, anything that would tell them where their son was. and why.  
  
"There's no evidence at all that he was kidnapped, and no one heard anything in the night."  
  
"Do you think he might've gone to the DigiWorld on his own?" Yolei asked.  
  
Kari was silent. Her right hand was held by TK's, but her left was in her jacket pocket where she fingered Davis's shattered goggles. She felt guilt and worry creep up on her. She felt bad about fighting with Davis. He had taken her and TK's relationship a lot worse than anyone expected.  
  
"Why would he do something like that?" Jun asked.  
  
"Well, he has been acting a little stranger than normal lately. Quieter, and spending more time in his room alone." Davis's mother said.  
  
Again, silence encompassed the group of DigiDestined. Kari shivered. TK squeezed her hand. She looked at her boyfriend out of the corner of her eye and smiled.  
  
Jun eyed this exchange between Kari and TK. 'Aha.' Jun thought. She knew her brother had a big crush on that Kari girl. She also knew Davis hated TK.  
  
"Hey," Jun spoke up. "Why don't the 5 of you go and look for Davis in the DigiWorld? You know, just in case something was bothering him. You know how Davis overreacts. He probably just went to take a little vacation. You guys can go make sure he's not in any danger. And you're his best friends. If anyone can get him to come back, you guys can, right?"  
  
The DigiDestined nodded, but they were doubtful. Davis had been avoiding all of them since he found out about Kari and TK. Would he even listen to them?  
  
Kari let go of TK's hand and walked around Davis's room, carefully stepping over the clutter. She stopped at his bookshelf. There were no books in sight, just soccer trophies and other soccer paraphernalia. Kari smiled inside. 'Typical Davis.'  
  
She started to move on when she notice shards of broken glass on the top of the bookshelf, and a picture frame face down. She picked up the frame, turned it over, and gasped. It was a picture Davis had taken of her last year at graduation. She could tell by the way the glass had shattered that Davis had smashed it. "Oh Davis." she whispered inaudibly.  
  
Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her waist and TK's head rest on her shoulder. TK looked at the picture. "Wow. He must've just been insanely jealous," TK said, with a bit of a laugh in his voice.  
  
"Mmm." Kari mumbled.  
  
"But then, who wouldn't be? I mean, it's *you* after all," TK whispered in her ear, pulling her tight against him.  
  
Kari smiled. But underneath she felt guilty and worried. She'd never seen Davis act the way he had this past week. She didn't know what he was capable of doing.  
  
'Oh Davis, I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you like this.'  
  
But deep down, she knew she *had* meant to hurt him. She knew that both Davis and TK liked her, and she took advantage of that. She was also teasing them, doing things with TK for the sole purpose of making Davis jealous. She really was a selfish brat, wasn't she?  
  
And now. was she really going out with TK because she truly liked him? Or had she taken her game too far? Kari herself wasn't even sure. She told herself that she really liked TK. Of course she did, right? Right?  
  
The guilt ate away at her.  
  
-----  
  
On the sidewalk outside the house, the DigiDestined gathered around.  
  
"Why don't we go home tonight, tell our parents what's going on, get a good night's rest, and we'll head off to look for Davis bright and early in the morning!" Yolei proposed.  
  
"Good idea," Ken agreed, smiling at Yolei. Yolei's heart skipped.  
  
The others expressed their agreement.  
  
"Okay, we'll meet back at my house at 8 AM sharp, okay?" Yolei said.  
  
"Right," everyone nodded, then split up to head home.  
  
"You guys go on without me," TK told Yolei and Cody, who were waiting for him. "I'm gonna walk Kari home."  
  
The group waved goodbye to each other.  
  
Kari and TK set off down the sidewalk.  
  
"You don't have to walk me home, TK. It's not that far away."  
  
"Of course I do. Beautiful girl like you? Anyone would snatch you up!" he exclaimed, grabbing her waist and pulling her to him playfully.  
  
Kari laughed. TK sure was different now that they were going out. He was sweet though. She tried to shrug off the thoughts she'd had earlier. Of course she liked him. Of course she did.  
  
They walked on in silence for a few minutes until Kari sighed heavily.  
  
TK looked at her. "Come on Kari, you're too stressed out. I know you feel guilty, and you shouldn't."  
  
'If only you knew.'  
  
"You don't owe Davis anything for liking you. If you chose me, that's your decision and he needs to accept that."  
  
He was right. Kari smiled. "I'm just. worried, that's all. I mean, I've never seen Davis this upset."  
  
"Kari, this is *Davis* we're talking about, remember? He's probably only doing this because he knew you'd be worried. He wants the attention from you. Come on, he's just jealous cuz I got you and he didn't."  
  
"You *got* me?! I am not a piece of meat, Takeru!" Kari snapped. She stormed ahead.  
  
"Kari! Kari, please! That's not what I meant, and you know it!" He caught up to her and told a hold of her shoulders. "Come on Kari, you're too stressed out." He rubbed her shoulders.  
  
He thought she had only snapped at him because she was stressed. Kari decided to let him think that. She sighed.  
  
"Just calm down, okay?" TK soothed. "We're making a bigger deal out of this than we should. We'll go find Davis tomorrow, get him to come back, he'll get over it, and we'll all go on with normal lives."  
  
-----  
  
Davis wandered around the DigiWorld. After a few hours here, he was already feeling better. Just allowing himself to get away from it all really cleared his head. He didn't have to face Kari, or TK, or any of his friends, or anything. He didn't have to face his life. Life in the DigiWorld was so much less stressful.  
  
Davis walked along a cliff, wondering what he'd do now. He was not at all prepared to go back home, not now, not any time soon.  
  
Suddenly he remembered that Gray kid and his offer. Davis had told him yesterday that he was in, but he didn't really know *what* he was in. 'To keep the Digital world free for its chosen children.'  
  
Davis decided he'd go to Gray, meet him, check him out. Find out what he wanted from him. Find out what exactly he had in mind. Helping him out a bit would be a good distraction for a little while.  
  
Davis pulled out his cell phone and brought up the memory. Gray's number flashed across the screen and began dialing.  
  
Again, the other end was picked up almost immediately, as if Gray had been anticipating the call.  
  
"Gray."  
  
"This is Daisuke Motomiya."  
  
"Ah, Motomiya. I've been waiting for you."  
  
"Sorry. I've been distracted."  
  
"It's perfectly fine. I knew you would come on your own time. Are you ready, Daisuke?"  
  
-----  
  
To be continued. 


	4. Chapter 3 By Kaeera

_ Uhm, I'm German. That might explain the grammatical errors in this chapter. And it might explain the strange name of the...well, you will see^^_ _**~Kaeera**_  


**Even the purest light creates a shadow**

**Chapter Three**  
_by Kaeera _

Kari stared out of the window. She had been lying awake for quite a while now, but couldn't find any sleep. There were so many things in her head, so many strange feelings, and she didn't know what to think of them. The girl sighed and gazed at the blue night sky. There were no clouds and she could see the stars, although not very clear - after all she lived in a huge city. It looked so calm, so beautiful...

She remembered the nights she had used to spent with her brother, looking at the stars and telling stories. Everything had been so clear then...so easy....and now?

"I hurt him...", she whispered and wondered why it hurt her. Her words had been hard and unfair, but it hadn't been the first time that she had overreacted in Daisuke's near. But this time...she flinched when she recalled the look in his eyes, this look of anger, of sadness and another feeling she couldn't describe. Like...giving up. Seeing the end. Like dead. Hopeless and shattered....

"Nonono...", Kari groaned. Shattered like the picture. Shattered like the glass of the frame. And it was her fault...

She didn't regret her decision. She liked being together with TK, he was nice, he loved her, it was just...perfect. The perfect couple. Everybody had said it, and they had been right. The girl just wished that her decision wouldn't cause that much pain. He was her friend after all, a good friend, a close friend. And she had acted like a real jerk, not seeing what he was feeling, being egoistic. 

Truth was that she didn't know why she had reacted that harsh. Normally she wasn't the hot-tempered person, that belonged to people like Yolei and, well, Davis. She had just flipped...

_And it had hurt him..._

Brown eyes which seemed to laugh all the time had suddenly burned with rage and a destructive sadness. And she had taken it lightly, thinking that he would calm down...until his mother had called them. Then Kari had realised that even Davis could be hurt deeply. And it had been her. Her fault.

Tomorrow they would search him. And maybe they would find him. But Kari wasn't so sure anymore if they would find Daisuke Motomiya. Or another person.

  


* * *  


"Ready for what?", Davis wanted to know, frowning at his cell phone. "I would appreciate it if you could explain me a few details. I can't stand mysteries."

"Sure.", Gray replied, and the boy could hear the smile in his voice. "But it's better when we meet personally. I can't stand it to discuss important stuff over the phone. I guess that you are in the Digital World?"

Davis nodded and then realised that the other boy couldn't see it. "Yes.", he added quickly.

"Good. Let's meet in half an hour. You should be able to find me with your D3 - I will try to appear in your near, though it's never that exact. We ought to walk a bit, but I think you can manage that."

"Sure.", was Davis' only answer. He really didn't know what to think of this whole thing. But he didn't want to turn back now either, so he just listened. 

Gray chuckled. "Not very talkative, huh? Well, I'll meet you in half an hour. Bye!"

"Bye."

His phone went out and the boy shook his head. He should be able to locate the other boy? Slowly he pulled out his D3 and stared at the screen. He knew that he was able to locate other digidestined, but did it work with normal people? Somehow Davis doubted this.

Then...this guy was a digidestined, too? But where was his digimon? Davis shook his head. The more he asked, the more questions seemed to appear, and only Gray knew the answers. Maybe it was the best to wait until his D3 reacted.

The boy sat down on the ground and stared at the sky. It was blue, like always, such an overwhelming, intense blue you never saw at home. He loved it, loved the digiworld with all its colours, its many species and landscapes. And he had sworn to protect it the first time he had stepped on the green grass; protect it with all his power, strength and will. Now...now it seemed as if his will had been drained out of him. Just because of one girl?

He didn't want it. But....but Kari was....she was special, and hell, he had liked her for so long. It hurt! And he couldn't do anything against it. It was putting him down, and Daisuke Motomiya felt for the first time in his life what it meant to be depressed.

Gloomily he hugged his knees and closed his eyes. A soft breeze stroke his face and washed a single tear away. Why could the world be so happy one day, and the next....every dream had died? Why had she said these words? She didn't care at all, didn't care that it hurt him, didn't care what he felt, just saw TK, just saw...well, what? Kari wasn't egoistic. She was one of the nicest persons on earth, otherwise he wouldn't have fallen for her. She just acted like this when she met him....maybe it wasn't her fault, but his? Maybe he, Daisuke, was a loser, such a jerk that he wasn't worth any attention?

_"All I saw when I looked at you was a spoilt little boy who thought he had to have his own way, because he was the best. What, you thought that because you were our 'LeaderI would go out with you? You weren't even worth the time of day!"_

The boy cringed as he remembered the painful words. _It's not true_, he thought, _I never thought that I was the best. I wanted to be the best, but that's a difference, isn't it? Okay, I was...overreacting...sometimes...maybe...but...but...I wasn't that bad, was I? I was a good friend, not? I mean...I have my good sides, too.._.

Then he remembered the numerous times he had fought with TK, or had praised himself after a soccer game. Good sides? Which good sides? He was neither intelligent nor a good listener. He could just laugh and well, act stupid. Like a clown. A stupid clown. Not a leader.

He was sinking deeper and deeper into his depression when suddenly his D3 beeped. Davis' eyes shot open and he stared down on the tiny screen. A green, blinking dot had appeared on it, moving quickly in his direction. That was probably Gray. Davis sighed and stood up, brushing the dirt from his pants. There wasn't the time to look back. He wanted to forget it, didn't want to think about the beautiful girl anymore. Like a statue he stood and waited until the other boy appeared behind some bushes and walked towards him with a triumphantly smile on his lips.

"Nice to see you, Motomiya.", Gray seemed genuinely happy. 

Davis didn't smile back. "I want to have some answers. Now."

Gray motioned him to sit down in the green grass. "How I told you before...", the boy began, "It's my intention to protect this world. I know human beings; soon many scientists will come in order to study digimon. They will catch them and make experiments with these peaceful creatures. They will enter this world and destroy everything, destroy the peace, just because they want to know how it works.", his voice sounded bitter. "That's why I want to close the gates. Just chosen children, just digidestined shall be able to enter this world, because it is their world! The adults don't earn this. They haven't helped to protect it, but they will help to destroy it! That's why I need your help."

Davis lowered his gaze. "Does that mean that you are a chosen one, too?"

"Actually, no. It has always been my greatest wish to be one, to be able to help this world, to protect it, but somehow I never received a digivice or a digimon. Although it was my greatest wish, although I would have done everything for it!", a dejected glint appeared in the eyes of the teen. "But then I met...this person, and he gave me a D3, my own D3! Now I am able to wander through this world and to do the thing I wanted to do through my whole life: to protect it!", he held out a small, grey digivice which was slightly smaller than Daisuke's.

Davis' gaze scanned through the area. "And where's your partner? Every chosen one has a digimon, so where's yours?"  


Grays enthusiastic smile fell together. "I haven't found him yet.", he suddenly looked sad and disappointed. "I have searched in every place, but there's no digimon which is my partner...", he sighed and then growled determinant: "But it's only a matter of time! I have found a D3, I will find my partner, too!"  
Davis preferred not to answer the other boy. He had the worse feeling that something was wrong with this D3 of Gray; it didn't look like his one, it looked, well, different. Normally digivices appeared along with digimon, so where was Gray's partner? Something wasn't right....

"But I see that your partner hasn't accompanied you as well!", Gray said, coming back to his sure, smiling self.  


Davis looked away. "That's none of your business. I needed to be alone, that's all.", then he stared with his brown eyes at Gray. "Why me?", he wanted to know. "Why me of all the chosen kids?"

"Because you are strong. Because you feel the same for this place. And because you...called back."

"What does that mean?", a look of confusion crossed the face of the brown-haired boy.

"You will find it out. Eventually.", Gray smiled knowingly. "So, Davis, are you in? Will you help me to protect this world? Will you make a place out of it where only chosen and their digimon can play? Peaceful and undisturbed, without any danger?"

Davis thought for a moment. He had never considered the possibility of adults entering the Digital World as a problem, but now he began to see that there might be some difficulties. And this guy sounded honest, he really wanted to protect this world. He still could turn back when he didn't like the development of it all...  
However, a nagging voice in his mind told him to talk with his friends about this, because they had a right to know about it - after all they were digidestined like him, and...  
_But you don't have friends anymore, remember? They think you aren't worth it. Especially Kari. They don't like you. They will laugh at you when you return. And TK and Kari will be the perfect couple, right in front of your eyes, and they will never care that your heart is bleeding_...

"What do I have to do?", Davis asked firmly.

* * *

It was early morning when Ken left the house. The blue haired boy paced along the streets to their meeting place. He looked tired and worn out; he hadn't got much sleep this night, worry and concern keeping him awake. Davis had run away without telling him anything, without asking for help, and this bothered Ken. They had been friends, best friends, but he hadn't been able to help him. Davis hadn't even considered the possibility! Why? 

He just wished that it hadn't come this far. It would be difficult to find him. And there was this tingling feeling in the back of his head that something was wrong, something bigger than the whole Kari-TK-Davis affair! Like a darkness in his mind, which was clouding his senses....

Ken shook his head. This was probably all the result of some bad night sleep. Nothing to worry about. He had to concentrate on his task: to find Daisuke and to talk with him from friend to friend.

Yolei's house was coming into sight. Kari was already standing there and waiting, with her hands in her pockets and a thoughtful look on her face. She seemed to be tired.

"Morning.", Ken greeted half-heartedly. She smiled weakly. "Morning."

"We are a bit early.", he looked on his watch. "Still ten minutes until it's 8 o'clock."

"I know. But I couldn't stand it to stay at home any longer. I have a bad feeling...", Kari stopped and blushed, realising what she had said. Well, it really sounded stupid...

But Ken didn't laugh at her remark. "Strange. I feel the same. There is something going on, something dark...."

Kari shivered and looked away. "I don't even want to think of it..."   
They waited in silence until Yolei left the house, dressed in her usual pink and violet outfit. "Good morning!", she said cheerfully and grabbed the backpack on her shoulders. "You are early."

She looked around. "Ah, TK's coming, too.", the girl pointed towards the blonde boy who was walking nearer. "And there's Cody! Good, we're all!"

Kari was greeted with a light kiss from TK and an encouraging smile. She tried to smile back, but her heart was heavy.  
The kids went to discuss the search of their missing friend and leader, not knowing that this search would take longer than anyone expected...

* * *

The house was standing in a small valley, a peaceful, calm place. Although there wasn't much nature - just a little bit grass and a few flowers - it looked nice and...well, warm, like home. That was what he felt - at first. Then another feeling mixed into the warmth, something he couldn't explain, it just seemed to tickle him...try to catch his attention. Davis shook his head.

"That's my Home.", Gray said, his green eyes gleaming slightly. 

Davis frowned. "You live in the Digital World? All the time?"

"Well, there was nothing at home which held me back.", the older boy replied, a sudden look of sadness on his face. It quickly disappeared, and he smiled again. "But that's over, now I'm glad that I'm able to live here. It's a good place."  


The house was made of wood and wasn't very big, just one room with a small bed, a table and a cupboard. Davis leaned against the wall, feeling a little bit shy. "But...aren't...weren't you alone? Didn't you feel lonely?"

Gray's eyes widened, just for a moment, as brief as a flash, nearly unnoticeable. Then the teen answered in a calm, controlled voice: "No, never. Hey, this is the greatest place on the world and I can do everything I want! I can travel around and talk with all the digimon, and everyone likes me! And it's not that I am always here, I return to the real world from time to time. I just changed my...sleeping place. Believe me, it's great!"

But Davis knew that he was lying, and he decided to change the topic. "Am I supposed to live with you?"

"Whatever you want. You just need to stay here, because there's much work to do. And you'd better collect your digimon, you might need it."

"Oh.", was Davis' only reply. He had totally forgotten about Veemon, but Gray was right, he couldn't leave his blue partner at home. And it was nice to know that at least someone liked his company and stayed his friend, whatever happened.

Gray went inside the house and crawled under his bed. When he appeared again, his head was full of dirt and dust. He smiled excusing and brushed it off. "I don't clean the room very often.", he admitted and showed the other boy a grey bracelet. It was thick and made of a strange metal with a little screen and some buttons on it. Curiously Davis peered at it, unsure of what to say.

"You need to wear this.", Gray explained. "It's like a computer, it allows you to collect data and to look at it. It's necessary if we want to block the borders to the real world. You see, right now you're able to reach the Digital World from every computer. We have to prevent that, so we'll create something like a firewall...a invisible border around the whole world, which only allows certain people to come through - people who have a digivice. No one else."

"Well...", Davis put a hand behind his head. "I think you have the wrong person, I don't understand anything of computers, and I don't know how one could create such a firewall-thing you are talking of..."

"Oh, you don't need to.", was the slightly amused reply. "That's why you are wearing the bracelet - me too, by the way. There are some places in the digiworld, important places. It's difficult to explain; you can say that they are like....like our heart, or our brain. Much energy is floating there, and they have influence on the whole Digital World. They use to be called "Sternenheimat" but hardly anybody knows about them..."

"So why you?", Davis interrupted. Gray looked uncomfortably away. "I...have my sources, but that's not important. Daisuke, when we are able to reach these places and to put this...", he held up his hand and showed the other boy a small, violet crystal, "into it, it will change this world!"

Gray glowed excitedly. Davis just stared at the crystal. "And what's that?", he wanted to know, feeling more and more confused. 

The older boy put the crystal into his hands. "It's a program. A virus, you could say. Not a dangerous one, of course, but it will help us. We just need to find the "Sternenheimat", everyone of them, put such a crystal in it, and well...that's all."

Davis pulled a face. "What's that for a strange name...Sternenheimat? I don't know this word!"

Gray chuckled. "I was quite puzzled when I heard it the first time, too, but then I searched through some dictionaries and realized that it's a German word - which means something like "Home of the stars", or "Place where the stars are born". Maybe one way to express the power of these places..."

"German? Why German?", Davis wondered.

"Hey, after all digimon were developed by international scientists. I bet one of them was a German with sense for romantic!"

"Home of the stars...", was all Davis said. He looked down on the bracelet and traced with his fingers across the cool metal. "It sounds...interesting.", he then continued hesitantly. "I think...I think I will help you. Where are these places?"

"That's the problem. I don't know it.", Gray admitted sheepishly, which caused the other boy to groan. "And that's why I need your help."

Davis blinked. "What? Me?"

"Yes. You and Veemon." He tilted his head and stared confused at Gray, but all he received was a knowing smile.

* * *

"The problem is that the Digital World is so big.", Ken said, gnawing on his lower lip. "He could be everywhere, and he certainly has Veemon with him, so he'll be able to run away from us, when Veemon digivolves."

They were still standing in front of Yolei's house, discussing the problem. TK shook his head. "And he's that angry that he WILL run away from us as soon as his D3 shows our presence."

"But we can't just stand here and do nothing!", Kari balled her fists. "Who knows what's happening there, and Davis will run from one trouble to the next! I know him! That'd be typical!"

"Doesn't Davis have any favourite places? I mean, everyone of us has...", Yolei suddenly piped in and looked anxiously at the other. "He probably went there."

TK frowned. "He never told me about a favourite place."

Cody shook his head. "Me neither. No idea."

"Wait a moment...", Ken seemed to be thinking. "He once told me about a place...it's long ago, but it had something to do with the sea...and cliffs..."

"Well, that's something.", Kari smiled weakly. "We just have to try. I mean, it can't be that hard, can it? Davis won't run away from us forever..."

"Especially not from you.", Yolei laughed. Kari looked away. She wasn't that sure. The look Daisuke had given her still frightened the brown-haired girl, and the memory of the shattered picture frame made things worse. She had to tell him how sorry she was...and she had to...she had to....what? She didn't know it...but there was something else....

* * *

Gray smiled at the shadows. "He's entirely on our side now.", the boy stated happily.

"Did you give him the bracelet?"

"Yes. And I told him about the crystals."

"Good. Then the search can begin. I hope you give your best. After all it was ME who introduced you to this world!"

"I certainly will give my best!", Gray replied convinced. "I want to protect this world, because I love it. And I will be thankful forever, because you gave me this...", he held up his little Digivice-thing. "It's just a matter of time until I find my digimon partner...", he said dreamily.

"Yes." 

If Gray had listened closer, he would have noticed the amused tone in the voice. But he didn't. Because he chose to believe. Because he wanted to see his dream to come true....

**To be continued...**  



	5. Chapter 4 By DarkStar01

****Authors Note:** Hey all. First chapter by me. As you have all noticed if you read any of my stories, I like long author notes. But after the chapter that Kaeera wrote, I'm sure your all dieing to read this one, so have at it! Sorry it took so long for me to finish this.  
  
( .. ) = this is me trying to get to you  
_italics_ = this is someone thinking  
  
****Even The Purest Light Casts A Shadow  
Chapter 4: By DarkStar01  
  
****

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**** "Another area checked," Ken said, thinking out loud. "Where in the digiworld is he?" By now, after about 3 hours of searching for Davis, even the 'this-will-all-work-out' Yolei was somber and confused. Had Davis really gone this far as to turn off all his DigiDestined equipment so they couldn't detect him, and run to the digiworld? None of it made sense.  
  
"That's the 8th cliff next to the ocean that we have checked," Cody said, more for his own benefiet than the others. "What do we do?" Kari closed her eyes and got a stern look on her face.  
  
"We keep looking of course," she said.  
  
"But Kari, we aren't turning anything up," TK responded. "It looks like we need our brothers and the others help too."  
  
_But then I would have to explain everything to them. I would have to... Why am I afraid of telling them about my decision? It was the decision I wanted to make, wasn't it? It was the right decision..._  
  
"Kari?" TK asked. She snapped out of her thoughts. "Did you hear me? We have to tell the others."  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"So what exactly do we do first?" Davis asked Gray. They were inside his small house like structure, and Davis was lying on his bed while Gray made some food.  
  
"Well, the first thing that we should do should be to activate the firewall for Japan."  
  
"What do you mean?" Davis asked.  
  
"Your friends will probably be the biggest problem we have. They won't want to join us I suspect." Davis furrowed his brow in thought.  
  
_No, they won't. I know Kari won't. She was always saying how her dream was for humans and digimon to live peacefully together._  
  
"Davis? You there?" Gray asked, waving his hand in front of Davis' face.  
  
_But that doesn't matter anymore._  
  
"...Yeah....They will be.." Then Davis suddenly thought of something. "Wait a minute, you said that you didn't know where any of these Sternpimart....Stramnhenat...Shtreernhinmat..."  
  
"Sternenheimat?"  
  
"Yeah. You said you didn't know where any were!"  
  
"Not exactly," Gray said with a slight smile. "You had asked me if I knew where they were, as in where all of them were, so I answered truthfully. No. I don't know where all of them are. But I do know where enough are to block off Japan." Gray walked over to the bed with a plate of food in hand. "So are you in?"  
  
"..Yeah...."  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"Okay," Tai said. "All of us are here now, so what we are all wondering, and you all seem to know, is why did Davis just pick-up and leave?" Yolei, Ken and Cody looked over at TK and Kari, and Tai followed their gaze.  
  
"..Oh...." Tai said. "It was...." Kari nodded her head.  
  
_Poor Davis, I know how that can feel._ Tai took an unnoticed glance over at Sora and Matt, who were holding hands. _Davis and me are even more alike than should be allowed._  
  
"If it's your problem then why did you call us?" Tai said, barely above a whisper.  
  
"We can't find him anywhere," Ken said. "And he told me something about cliffs by a sea." Everyone gasped.  
  
"He wouldn't..." Sora said.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"So where exactly are the points that block Japan?" Davis asked.  
  
"I know where they are, but unless we have a digimon to help us, it will take days to get to them."  
  
"Let's go back so I can get Veemon," Davis said. "He is my digimon partner."  
  
"Alright," Gray agreed. "There is a digiport over this way that will get us very close to your house."  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Everyone was searching for Davis. _I hope he didn't do anything stupid,_ Tai thought. He saw Pegasusmon heading back towards the group.  
  
"I didn't find anything," TK said as he landed.  
  
"None of us did," Tai said. "The only one left is Kari."  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
_This is my fault,_ she thought to herself. _I never should have said those things. They weren't even true._  
  
"We should head back to the group," Nefertimon said as they flew above another forrested area.  
  
"No," Kari said. "Davis is out here somewhere. We have to find him." Nefertimon sighed but continued on flying over the digiworld in search of Davis. They were flying for what seemed like hours when suddenly, Kari noticed something.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"She's taking way too long," Matt said. "We need to go find her."  
  
"I don't think-" Tai started, but was interupted by his digivice. It had started beeping, as had everyones. Yolei looked at hers to see what it was all about.  
  
"Guys!! Davis turned on his digivice!!" She exclaimed. "He's due west!" Everyone took got on their digimon and headed towards the signal.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"We are about 2 minutes away from him Nefertimon!" Kari said. "Turn left!" Nefertimon turned towards the signal, going at breakneck speed. They were coming up on where Davis should be. It was just coming into view, and the signal died. As Nefertimon touched down, Kari looked for Davis, but he was nowhere to be found. She didn't notice the digiportal, just closing but a few meters away.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Davis moved about his room quickly, gathering a few items that he wanted to take with him. He went over to Veemon.  
  
"Let's go little buddy." Veemon nodded in reply. Gray smiled and opened the digiportal back towards his house.  
  
Once they were in the digiworld again, Davis and Gray explained what was going on to Veemon.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" he asked Davis.  
  
"Yes," Davis responded. "What he was saying is true. The world does not know how to be kind to anything that is not like itself." Davis closed his eyes and recoiled at how true his own words were. He knew from experience.  
  
"Alright then Davish. I am with you all the way."  
  
"Excellent," Gray said. "Now let's hurry and close off those Sternenheimat points. I have a digi-portal that will bring us fairly close to one of them."  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
The rest of the groups had caught up with Kari, who was looking all over around the area where she had landed looking for Davis.  
  
"Did you see him?" Matt asked.  
  
"No," Kari said. "He disappeared right before I got here. It was as if he vanished into nothing."  
  
Cody walked over to the edge of the trees.  
  
"Why would Davis turn on his D3?" he asked.  
  
"To use it I suppose," Izzy answered. "Wait! I see what your saying. The only two things he would have done with his D3 are open a portal and digivolve Veemon."  
  
"We would have seen him digivolve," Tai said. "That would have been unmistakeable."  
  
"Which leaves that he opened a portal," Cody said. "But why would he have gone back to the real world?" Everyone was silent for a moment.  
  
"Wait a minute, did he have Veemon with him?" Izzy asked.  
  
"I don't know," TK said. "Maybe... what's your point?"  
  
"That's the only thing I can think of. The only reason he would go back, unless he meant to stay in the real world."  
  
"That's not likely. It would contradict his previous acitons."  
  
"Exactly. And him going back to get Veemon means that he plans to be here to do something, possibly for an extended period of time."  
  
_Whatever_, Kari thought. _I'm just glad he didn't jump to the bottom of one of those cliffs..._  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"Are we almost there?" Davis asked impatiently. "It feels like we have been walking forever!"  
  
"Yes," Gray said calmly, not looking back at Davis. "We are close." He looked at his wrist device, then looked up, strait ahead.  
  
"I didn't know that this crystal was in the middle of the digital dessert," Davis complained.  
  
"You never asked," Gray said distant, his expression unchanging, as if he wasn't focused at all on what Davis was saying. He took a few more steps forward, then stopped.  
  
"C'mon man, keep going. I want to get out of here as soon as we can."  
  
"This is it," Gray said with a smile on his face. "It's right here." Davis took a long glance at where Gray was standing. Nothing but the featureless dessert that was as far as the eye could see.  
  
"Ummmm... has the heat gotten to you Gray? There's nothing there." Gray turned around and smiled.  
  
"That's because it hasn't reacted to the crystal yet." Gray pressed a button on his wrist device and a blue crystal materialized. He grabbed it and held it out in front of him. "Watch this."  
  
At first nothing really happened. The crystal glowed a little bit, but nothing much. Gray kept moving around slightly, as if he was finely adjusting a setting. Then, after a short while, it seemed that he had hit the spot he was looking for. The crystal suddenly became blindingly bright.  
  
The sky went black, and blue glowing lines appeared in the sand. They seemed to be part of a big pattern that you would see from the air, and it seemed that they were in the middle of it. The pattern looked like it must have been a half a mile in diameter, and as if it had ancient markings all over it.  
  
Davis stood in awe, as did Veemon, at what they were seeing. From the center of the pattern, a blue light beam pointing up from the ground began to form below the crystal. It looked like it shot all the way into the black sky. The Sun had long since disappeared from vision, and the crystal and pattern were the only real source of light, which cast an erie blue hue on everything, and made Veemon look flourescent.  
  
Gray slowly let go of the crystal, and it levitated in its place, looking as if it was supported by the beam of light. The crystal began to slowly rotate, and a ring of digiports appeared around the circular center of the pattern, encircling the beam of blue light.  
  
A small ball of what looked like pure energy formed around the crystal, then without warning, shot out in all directions like a shockwave. The digiports glowed blue for a moment, then went back to normal, disappearing.  
  
"That went well," Gray said. "Now all the digiports in this area are secured, and a Firepoint has been set up."  
  
"A... Firepoint??" Davis said, still slightly shocked at the show that had just been displayed. The Sun light was beginning to beat down on them again. "What's a Firepoint?"  
  
"Well, you remember how I said that I knew how to block off Japan? Think of the Firewall as sort of what it sounds like. It's a wall in between the digital and real world, only this wall will let certain people through, while denying others. Just like a wall or a fence, it needs supports. Fence posts. Firepoints. It's sort of like a connect the dots to make the wall that blocks the world out. Points in the digital world corespond to points in the real world."  
  
"So that's how it works," Veemon said.  
  
"You make things like this so much easier to understand than Izzy does," Davis said jokingly. They both laughed, as did Veemon.  
  
"So where's the next one?" Veemon asked. Davis, taking after Gray, looked at the device that Gray had given him. _Now how do I operate this thing?_ Davis wondered.  
  
"Put it to passive scan mode," Gray said, pressing a few buttons on Davis' device. A map showed up on the small screen with their location and the locations of the other Sternenheimat points. The closest one was to the east, or Davis' left.  
  
"Pretty nifty little devices. What do you call them?"  
  
"Well," Gray sort of shuffled uncomfortably. "I know that you call yours D3's, right? I called 'em D4's." Davis laughed.  
  
"They sure are a whole lot different and in some ways better than the ones that we... the one I have." Gray shuffled again at Davis' slip up on words.  
  
"Are you really ready to leave them?" Gray asked. "Don't answer now. Think about it."  
  
Davis stopped himself. Was he? He wasn't quite sure, but he didn't want to think about it either. Instead, he held out his D3 in front of him.  
  
"Let's get to that next point! Digi-armor energize!"  
  
"Veemon armor digivolve to...... Raidramon!"  
  
Gray and Davis got on Raidramons back and he sped off, directed by Davis and Gray, towards the next point in their sequence to shut down Japan. To lock out the Odaiba digidestined.  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Tai and the others had been trekking for hours now, searching for Davis. They were about ready to give up when they suddenly got a signal on Davis' D3.  
  
"He's in the digital desert," TK said. "Crap, the signal went dead. He only keeps it on as long as he has to."  
  
"At least we know he came back," Izzy said. "That means that he must have gotten Veemon then come back."  
  
"Let's see if we can get over to that digital desert," Kari said. "We might be able to catch him!"  
  
"Only if we ride there," Mimi reminded them. They all nodded, as the digimon that could fly digivolved to their flying forms. Everyone else grabbed on for the ride as they sped off in the direction of the digital desert, with hopes of getting a friend and some answers.  
  
"So what exactly happened?" Tai asked Kari. They were riding together on Nefertimon. "I know that Davis wouldn't have done this unless something that your not telling me happened." Kari closed her eyes and looked away.  
  
"You know me too well for your own good," Kari said. "It was my fault. No one except for Davis and me know what happened, and it was all my fault." She began to cry, and Tai wiped the tears off her face.  
  
"What happened that the others don't know about?" Tai asked.  
  
"I was trying to catch up to Davis, and he told me that he didn't want anything to do with me because he was tired of being played around with basically. I took it hard and lashed back. I said so many things that aren't true." She sniffed. "I told him that he wasn't even worth the time of day. That he was a selfish..." She trailed off, unable to complete her sentence, due to her emotional state. Tai tried to comfort her.  
  
"It's okay Kari. I know you didn't mean those things, and I am pretty sure that Davis does too. He will forgive you. I'm sure of it."  
  
"But I-" Kari was cut off. Something weird was going on. They were now on the outskirts over the digital desert, and the sky had turned black. The sun had disappered. The only light was an erie blue glow that was coming from up ahead and from all the vegitation below, though it was sparse. It cast evil looking shadows on the digidestined.  
  
"What's going on?" Izzy asked out loud. A rhetorical question, none of them knew. A beam of blue light rose into the sky as high as they could see, far off in the distance. They were like statues, struck by the awe of the situation, and stopped flying towards the desert.  
  
"Davis must have something to do with that," Tai said. "He was out here. Out there."  
  
After a few seconds, they saw a blue shockwave headed their way, but it disapated before it reached them, as the sky returned to its normal color, and the Sun reappeared in the sky.  
  
"What just happened there?" Yolei asked.  
  
"I'm... not sure," Izzy said.  
  
Their digivices went off again.  
  
"He turned on his digivice," Kari said, matter-of-factly. It was true, they could see in the distance the tell tale signs of someone digivolving. "It looks like Raidramon. He is traveling somewhere."  
  
"That's it!" Tai yelled. "This is insane! What in the hell is all this about! Davis has us running in circles, and blind at that!" He lowered his head a little. "Maybe we would be better off to just let him go. Give him some time." The group was landing as he said the last sentence.  
  
"Maybe your right," Matt said.  
  
"Perhaps we should just let him be," Izzy agreed.  
  
"I can't believe you guys!" Ken said. "We need to help him here! That's what a friend would do, although I am not really surprised that you guys want to just quit on him. I am the only one that has even seemed to consider Davis a person!" Ken looked across the group. "If it was any of you that was out there, I know that no one, especially not Davis, would be quitting now. You all know it too."  
  
"He's right," Cody said, looking at the ground. His facial expression was one of the strongest emotions that any of them had ever seen Cody display. He looked angry and mournful at the same time. "We haven't been much of friends to him. The least we can do is find out exactly what is going on."  
  
"Jeez," Matt said. "We never said we didn't care about him, we just said that we should give him some space, that's all."  
  
"Your right," Ken said. "You never said it, but it doesn't matter. Actions speak louder than words, and in some case, inactions as well. I don't care if you guys go home to your nice cozy beds, I am going to find out why he isn't going back to his!"  
  
Ken walked over to Stingmon and was about to take off.  
  
"Wait!" someone called to him. He stopped and turned around. There was Cody. "I completely agree, and we need to find him." Cody pointed behind him. "Even if the others don't."  
  
"Well, I may not have been as good as I should have been to him," Tai said, "but your right. We have an obligation as his friends to find out what is wrong, and how he is fixing it." Tai walked over and joined Cody and Ken.  
  
"I don't know," TK said. "I think we should let him be. That's what we did with Matt. It all worked out then. If he doesn't want to be around other people, fine, he doesn't have to be." He wrapped his arm around Kari. "Right Kari?"  
  
_Right? That's what I have been asking myself. Was Davis right? I know I wasn't, but was he?_ Kari looked up into her boyfriends eyes. _How can TK say something like that? Ken was right. If it had been anyone else, everyone would still be looking for him, not arguing whether or not to look for him in the first place._  
  
"No," Kari said. Everyone turned and looked at her with a very surprised look, but none more so than Ken. "Not right. Not this time. The only way to be right is to agree with Ken. Friends don't leave friends out to dry." TK looked hurt and taken aback at what she said.  
  
"But... why?" TK asked.  
  
"He is our friend! I thought you would realize that! He needs the same sort of support that everyone else does! A friend is a friend is a friend, and that's the way it is!" Everyone caught a slight hint of anger in her tone, and was very surprised at the way she was acting.  
  
_Maybe things won't be the same for you and me after all,_ Tai thought to himself.  
  
"We have to find him, at least to find out what's going on." The others nodded their heads in agreement. If they hadn't been swayed before, they were now.  
  
"So what are we waiting around here for then?" Tai said. "Let's go!"  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
"Wow! Raidramon sure goes fast!" Gray said in amazement. "This will be a cinch now!"  
  
"The others are looking for me," Davis said.  
  
"I know," Gray responded. "Have you thought about what I said?"  
  
"Yeah," Davis answered. "But I don't have an answer yet."  
  
"That's alright. Like I was saying, you should take your time to answer that one."  
  
They coninued on, mostly in silence, until they got close to the next Sternenheimat point. They looked at their wrist devices and walked in the direction of the point, with Veemon following, de-digivolved from Raidramon.  
  
It took about another five minutes before they got to the point. Again, Gray pressed a button on his device and a crystal appeared. This time, pink. The process seemed to be the same, as everything that happened with the last point happened again, only wherever there had been something blue, it was now pink. The aura, the pattern, the glowing crystal; all of it was pink.  
  
After closing off the point, Davis re-digivolved Veemon to Raidramon, but noticed that his gear was going off. _Looks like I got an E-mail..._  
  
He checked his gear as they were travelling, and deleted it as soon as he saw it was from Kari. _Don't want to talk to you right now. Don't want to talk to you at all._ He felt his eyes getting foggy. _Don't I...?_  
  
He quickly disposed of his forming tears, unnoticeably to Gray.  
  
For the better part of the next four hours, Gray, Davis and Veemon continued to activate the points, with the digidestined not that far behind. Though it always seemed that they got there just as Davis left. Now, as Davis and Gray only had two points left until the Japan Firewall was activated, the digidestined for the first time noticed something odd...  
  
"Huh. That's strange..." Ken said, looking at his D3. "Hey everyone! Stop for a second!" As the group halted, Ken got off Stingmon and walked off in an odd direction through the jungle there were passing. The group waited for Ken to come back, but it seemed he wasn't going to. Then, just as Tai was getting ready to send a search party out, Ken yelled out from a distance: "Everyone! Over here, quick!!"  
  
After about five minutes, everyone had arrived at the small clearing in the jungle where Ken was at.  
  
"What is this all about?" Matt asked. "Why did we stop?" Ken pointed to the groups left.  
  
"Look at that digiport," Ken said. "Does anything about it strike you as odd?"  
  
Everyone glanced at the small TV like digiport, and instantly everone realized what Ken was saying.  
  
"Hey! That digiport is glowing yellow!" Tai exclaimed. "What's going on?"  
  
"Look at your digivices," Ken told them. They all gasped as they noticed that the digiport, though close enough to be visible to the naked eye, was not showing up on their D3's.  
  
"What in the world?!"  
  
"I already tried opening a digiport," Ken said. "It doesn't work. It's as if the port isn't compatable with our digivices." Ken took a step towards the digiport. "Notice anything else?" he asked.  
  
"No," Cody said. "What else?"  
  
"Wait," Izzy said. "Isn't yellow the color of the last wave we encountered that Davis seems to be performing?"  
  
"Yes," Ken said. "It is. I think we have found out what Davis is doing."  
  
"Deactivating digiports?" Yolei asked. "But why would he do that?"  
  
"More importantly, how would he do that?" Izzy said. "I have never come across a way to deactivate a digiport."  
  
"Do you think that he might be getting help from someone?" Tai asked. "This doesn't seem like a Davis sort of move."  
  
"But what would be the motivation for something like that?" Cody asked. "It just doesn't make sense."  
  
"Not to us," Izzy said. "But it makes complete sense to someone, and this is for someones benefit. The question is whose?"  
  
"It could be an evil digimon," TK suggested.  
  
"No. It doesn't matter how deranged Davis may be," Kari said. "He would only do something to the digital world if he thought it was something good. The one thing I want to know is why does Davis think that shutting down all the digiports is a good thing?"  
  
"It seems that we have a lot more questions," Tai said. "The only way to answer them is to confront Davis."  
  
"But how are we gonna do that? He is always one step ahead, and he never has his digivice on for very long."  
  
"Maybe there is a pattern to these places that Davis has been going to," Matt suggested. "If we found the pattern, we would know where he is going to be."  
  
"I'll get right on it," Izzy said. "I just hope that we get this all figured out soon. I don't want to miss dinner."  
  
"I can agree to that," Matt said.  
  
"Just think of all the digiports that Davis has blocked," Kari said. "It's terrible..."  
  
"Blocked... that's an interesting idea..." Izzy said. He pulled out his lap top and was typing on it for about half an hour before he stood up and turned to the waiting group.  
  
"I have some good news and some bad news," Izzy said. "The good news is, I do know where Davis is now, and i do know where he will be in about half an hour. There was a pattern." Izzy paused. "The bad news is that Davis seems to be setting up a Firewall between the digital and real worlds."  
  
"What's a Firewall?" Cody asked.  
  
"Think of it as exactly what it sounds like. A wall of digital fire. If you have the right access codes, you don't get burned, but if you don't have the access codes... you can't get into the digital world from the real world or visa versa."  
  
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted.  
  
"I'm afraid that Davis has already blocked off most of Japan, and only needs to activate two or three more strategic places before no one will be able to access the digital world from Japan without his access codes, and no one will be able to go to Japan from the digital world without them either. He seems to almost be finished. I'd say that within an hour, we would have to travel from Russia to get home."  
  
Everyone was dumbstruck at what Izzy had just told them. This was most certainly not good. In fact, this was bad. Really bad.  
  
"What... what do we do?" Yolei asked.  
  
"I think we need to revote on whether or not to chase Davis on this one. It seems that he is very adement about keeping us away," Matt said.  
  
"Vote?" Ken said. "Fine. I vote that we continue."  
  
"So do I," Cody said.  
  
"Me too," Tai chimed in.  
  
"I vote we stop," Matt said.  
  
"Yeah," Sora agreed.  
  
"We really need to stop going on this wild goose chase," TK said.  
  
"Well I think that we still need to go on this wild Davis chase," Yolei said.  
  
"We should head home," Izzy noted. "It's what logic says."  
  
Mimi and Joe were not available to come to the digital world, so that left it tied at 4 to 4 with only one vote left: Kari's.  
  
"Well?" Tai asked. "What's your vote Kari? It seems that we're split."  
  
"How can we continue looking for Davis when he trys so hard to stop us?" Kari asked. Matt, Sora and TK nodded their heads in agreement. "Simple," she continued. "We keep on trying." Everyone paused and did a double take as they realized what Kari said.  
  
"I... guess that we know where to go then..." Izzy said. "The place we will be able to meet up with him is right over this way," he said, pointing to his right.   
  
  
****

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******Authors Note:** Someone call the police, I just wrote the worst cliffhanger ever. Muwahahahaha... Don't worry, I am sure that the next chapter will be out before Christmas... hopefully... Hope you guys liked my chapter, as well as the others, in this ever growing fic with an ever growing group of Daikari loving writers. If you enjoy this fic, I suggest you check on my and the others profiles for our independant stories that we have written or are currently writing. Have fun waiting for the next chapter, because it ought to be a doozy. **


	6. Chapter 5 By Jakane

Chapter 5: Confrontations  
  
----------  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon yada yadda. And btw don't even bother to sue me. That's just stupid, 'cause you won't get anything. So save us some grief and just read the chapter, k?   
  
(A/N: blah) =I'm talkin' to ya   
~blah blah~ =thought   
*~blah blah~* =inner voice aside from personal thought (you'll get it)  
  
JUST REVISING THE CHAPTER MINNAS!!  
----------  
  
The digidestined continued to the area where Davis was expected to be.   
"Are you sure it's this way Izzy?" asked a skeptical Cody.   
  
"Of course. According to my calculations, the route we're taking is determined by the ratio of distance between the points and Raidramon's speed average, over the squared ratio of the number of points left to activate, which is indecisive because we don't know, and the time it takes him and whoever to activate the point and move on."  
  
Silence. The digidestined, minus Ken, stared blankly at Izzy.  
  
"In simple English please?" asked a lost Tai.   
  
Izzy sweatdropped. "Point blank, yes, I just followed the patterns and bright lights."  
  
"Oh," they all said, except for Ken who understood it to begin with.   
  
"Let's go find him then!" said an anxious Tai. They headed the direction Izzy had last pointed to, east.  
  
-----------------  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Izzy's calculations appeared to be off as Davis and Gray had gotten to the next point. Davis decided he wanted to do it this time. He told Gray this and he consented. Davis approached the point and looked to the device placed on his wrist and waited for a reaction. A purple crystal appeared in front of him. As Gray had done, Davis reached out to the crystal. The crystal then glowed and in a flash of violet the patterns appeared. Like the previous crystals, the patterns were the same except with a dark violet color. Davis stared in awe as the firewall was produced. The flash and patterns were not noticed by the other digidestined as they were turned east and the Sternheimat point crystal was west. However, as Gray and Davis headed out on Raidramon, their new direction appeared to be east.   
  
"Ever get the feeling something bad is going to happen?" Gray asked.  
  
"Yep. You get used to it after a while," Davis replied in slight humor. ~And that isn't good since I know what that 'bad' thing is...~ "Come on Raidramon, hurry up, we almost got caught last time."  
  
"What?" Raidramon sounded confused. Gray looked at him strangely as well.  
  
"You two didn't know? The others have been tailing us since you first digivolved to Raidramon. They almost got us last time." Davis waited for a response.  
  
"WHAT?!" Gray exclaimed. "They've been following us?"  
  
"Actually, it's more of them following me. I'm guessing they want an explanation."  
  
"Lovely. Now what?" Gray asked.  
  
"What do you mean? We just keep ahead. We're the fastest, right Raidramon?"  
  
"Yeah!" Raidramon answered excitedly. They arrived at the second-to-last Sternenheimat point.  
  
"Let's do it." Davis decided he wanted to do it again. He had his own device and Gray stood back with Raidramon.  
  
"Remember what to do?" Gray inquired. Davis nodded. He held out the wrist device and pressed a button labeled CSA, short for Crystal Start Activator. (A/N: Don't even ask where that came from.) A beautiful jade crystal appeared. He reached out for the crystal, waiting for it to fully form in front of him. As he grabbed for it he heard someone yell out-  
  
----------  
  
"Hmmmm..." says a dark-shrouded figure. He (A/N: It/Whatever) was viewing Gray and Davis's progress as well as the other digidestined on various screens.  
  
"Something wrong, Shihaisha-sama [roughly...ruler/master]?" asks a feminine voice.  
  
"No. As a matter of fact, everything's fine. Just fine." An evil smirk appears on the shadowed figure's face. "Shatora..."  
  
"Hai [Yes], sire?"  
  
"I have a mission for you."  
  
"Anything sire."  
  
"I want you to join those two in their little assignment." A low chuckle is heard.  
  
"Hai, Shihaisha-sama?"  
  
"Intervene and save Courage, understand? Gray already knows of you. The wrist devices they possess have an emergency call button on them. They can press that for your help in a tough spot. Gray is likely to call for you. You are to be a...guardian of sorts. And take your partner with you."  
  
"Of course, sire." The girl and her Digimon vanished from sight.   
After she disappeared, dark laughter echoed throughout the shadows.  
  
----------  
  
"Come on guys, we're almost there!" Tai called out. The others urged their digimon on, asking them to hurry before Davis got away again.   
  
Kari, however, seemed lost in thought as Angewomon sped forward. ~Davis...why didn't you respond?~   
  
*~You know why...~* Another voice was inside her head, speaking to her somehow.   
  
~Who are you? What do you know anyway?~   
  
*~So defensive...I know a great deal more than you and I'm not in denial like you are either.~*   
  
~What are you talking about?~   
  
~*You know why Davis didn't reply to your e-mail. You're probably the last person he wants to talk to.~*  
  
~Huh? Why do you say that?~  
  
*~Oh come now. Does "You're not even worth the time of day!" sound familiar to you?~*  
  
~Ohh...~  
  
*~Yeah, can't wait to see his reaction when you guys confront him. If he stays long enough that is heh heh...~* The voice was fading away.  
  
~Wait! Come back! I can explain!~  
  
*~Why should I explain myself?~* The voice was now gone.   
  
~Am I really that guilty?~ Something inside of Kari said she was...  
  
"Yo! Earth to Kari; come in Kari." Tai was waving his hand in front of Kari's face.  
  
"Oh! Sorry Tai. Just thinking." She said.  
  
"Right. Well the area is just over there."   
  
Kari looked between the trees and over the bushes. ~There he is...~ "Well then! There he is, let's go get some answers." Kari sounded confident on the outside, but inside she was shaking.  
  
"So how do we get his attention?" Matt asked. They watched as Davis held out some watch and pressed a button. A forest green crystal appeared. They're eyes widened as they saw Davis reach out to activate the crystal.  
  
On the spot, Tai got an idea. A wide smile formed on his face. Matt looked over to him and froze as he realized what Tai was going to do. "Simple," Tai began, "you do this..."  
  
"Tai no!" Matt started. Too late.   
  
He took in a breath, "Hey Davis!"   
  
-----  
  
"Hey Davis!" He froze; as did Gray and Raidramon. Raidramon stayed armored just in case. Good thing too.   
  
Davis, being distracted, withdrew from the crystal and it in turn vanished, due to lack of a power draw. "Oh no..." Davis whispered. "Raidramon! Let's go! Come on Gray, we'll come back later." The others apparently caught on and chased Davis. They all blocked his way to Raidramon and Gray. ~Perfect.~ Sarcasm was laid thick in his mind.  
  
"Davis why are you doing this?" Tai asked.  
  
"That's none of your concern. I need to go now." Davis attempted to go around.   
  
Cody blocked his way. "Come on Davis, what's the point of all this nonsense?"  
  
Davis shook his head. "What's the point? You wouldn't understand."   
He moved again.   
  
Yolei and Sora stood in the way. "Why don't you try to explain?" Sora asked.  
  
"You don't unders-" he was cut off.  
  
"Try us." Yolei said.  
  
"Even if you understood, you wouldn't agree." He walked off.   
  
Izzy and TK stood in his path. "That makes no sense you know." They said together.  
  
"My point exactly. You don't get it and you wouldn't no matter how smart you are."  
  
Davis tries again only to have Tai and Matt block his path. "You're a coward you know that?" Tai said.  
  
Davis winces and then glares in disbelieve. "A coward? Just for not giving in? Oh yeah, I'm a coward to you maybe...and that's because you don't like what you don't understand. I may not be the smartest, but I do have the most insight."  
  
Matt proceeded. "Oh please Davis. Look, whatever happened, we're sorry alright? So let's just forget it."   
  
Ken appeared in the path and added, "Yeah, let's go deactivate these things and go home."  
  
Davis looked over to Gray. He shook his head. ~Now what? Is this it? My final decision? He shook his head again to clear his thoughts. He didn't notice Gray press a button on his wrist device.  
  
-----  
  
Raidramon's POV  
  
Raidramon looked on in worry as his partner appeared trapped. ~I can't hurt them unless Dai says to do something. But I don't want to just sit and watch. The others can get it, no problem...but Angewomon...I don't think I could bring myself to harm her. But I will if she tries to hurt Dai. Hey, what's that Gray-kid doing with his watch-thing? Oh well. Let's see. Everyone has approached-and failed-sooo...oh-except Kari. Great. Can Dai really do this? I know how much he loves her. Heh; and everyone else says it's just a crush-bordering obsession. If they only knew. So what is he going to do now?~  
  
------  
Gray's POV  
  
Gray was having similar thoughts. ~Perfect. By the look on Davis's face, this is going to be trouble. Must be the girl he called out to in his sleep. He probably loves her. But she and the blond with that ridiculous hat (A/N: Had to get that in, gomen!) appear to be very close. That has to be why Davis keeps glancing between the two. He looks sad. I could guess the connection here or I could just ask, but I don't want to nose around in his business, especially if it's painful.~ With that thought cut off, he continued his previous train of thoughts. ~I can't let her stop us. But it's really his choice in the end. Can't force him.~ Gray pressed the EMC (A/N: E M ergency C all) button on his wrist device. ~Just in case he needs help and this gets physical. Is this it?~ He saw Davis shake his head. ~Hmmmmm...~  
  
----------  
  
Kari approached Davis. The others looked on believing surely Kari can do this. Since he cares for her so much to like almost obsession, this should be easy.  
  
Right?  
  
Kari spoke, "Davis...what is this?"  
  
Davis winced as he heard the voice of the last person he needed to see; his heart wavered. He took a deep breath and glanced from Kari to TK and back to Kari again. ~She's with him. Whatever she says doesn't matter now. I can do this...I hope. Hope. Yeah right.~ "What is what?" He opted for confusion.  
  
She didn't buy it. "Why are you activating these things? We know what they do now. Why are you closing us out and trapping this place in?" Her eyes reflected hurt and loss.  
  
Davis closed his eyes and looked away. "Because," he started to explain and stopped himself. ~I don't owe an explanation to anyone. Especially not them.~ "...weren't you listening? You wouldn't understand; and if you did, surely you, if not everyone else would be against it."  
  
Everyone blinked as they had thought this would be relatively easy for Kari to do. Apparently not. "Davis, come on. Look, I'm sorry for what I said! I didn't mean it and you know that! Right?" She looked at him with teary eyes.  
  
Davis winced as if hit physically as he saw what could, no...would become tears.   
  
"Right?" She repeated. He opened his mouth and shut it as a painfully familiar sentence floated through his head. ~"You're not even worth the time of day!" "Not even worth the time of day!" "Not worth the time of day!" "Time of day!"~ It seems as if there was an eerie echo in his head.   
  
*~Well, what's it going to be? What? You gonna go crawling back to the one who caused you the most pain? The one who left you alone? The one who let you down and not gently either? The one who basically told you you're the most selfish, bratty, annoying, stupid, worthless--~*  
  
~Enough! I've heard enough. What do you want from me?!~ He had a feeling the word 'worthless' would now be floating in his head for a while.   
  
*~Just to help you.~*  
  
~Help me what?~  
  
*~You want out of this situation right? You don't want to go back right now correct?~*   
  
Davis appeared to be lost in thought on the outside, but on the inside he gave a hesitative ~Yes, I need help. What's the catch?~  
  
*~No catch. I'm supposed to be helping you anyways. I'm on my way. Just seal the deal on the outside by letting them know you're not returning any time soon.~*  
  
~You sure?~  
  
*~It works, right? You're not running away without answers for them. They get an answer, but it's not permanent or anything. I mean you would be saying not any time soon, right? That's not saying, "I'm never coming back." now is it? So just do it. And the fact that you're saying it to her only makes it known that you are strong, you're over it, and you cannot be swayed.~*  
  
~Yeah! You're right. I can do this. So what are you, like my guardian angel?~  
  
*~Angel? Uh...sure. Yeah, your guardian angel. I'm on my way okay?~*  
  
~Sure, but...~  
  
*~What?~* The voice sounded annoyed.  
  
~What's your name?~ Davis shivered as he could almost feel the other person smirking. It felt cold to him all of a sudden.   
  
~*Name's Shatora.~* (A/N: Tell me you knew that. Really.)  
  
Davis looked dead in Kari's eye and slowly, with all his will, said, "I will not go. You may be sorry, but that changes nothing. That doesn't even have anything to do with my decision." He lied on that part. "I do not and will not plan to go with you guys to the other world. Nor will I take down the firewalls. You want them down? Try and take them down because I won't. I'm not being stupid, stubborn, a jerk, insensitive, a little kid or whatever else you would like to think. I'm not going with any of you, and I'm not stopping any time soon; so get over it."   
  
----------  
  
Somewhere, a feminine voice is laughing followed by the howl of a Wolcramon. (A/N: Made it up people. Mine.)   
  
----------  
  
A sad, yet bitter smile appears as he feels an urge arise and he walks to Kari. "Besides, for you to have said 'You're not even worth the time of day', you sure are spending a lot of time trying to get me to come back. But to what? Or should I say to whom? There's nothing here, no one's there. Why should I come back then? Hmmmmm."   
  
Tears indeed did come down at this statement. Not so much as him saying it with bitter sorrow lacing through it as the fact that it was true. ~He's right. What are we going to do? I failed. I couldn't get him to come back.~   
  
Anger arose as Tai and TK wanted to know what Davis had said to make Kari cry and said as much. Davis turned and repeated his statement for all to hear. Eyes widened in pure shock and Tai and TK's eyes narrowed in anger. In a fit TK told Angemon to charge Davis.  
  
(A/N: So he's a little OOC acting like that.)  
  
However, as vowed, Raidramon intervened. The thunder-wolf growled at Angemon in defense of his partner. Sparks licked the ground as he stood; ready to attack. They drove into battle. Lightning and light energy flew around each other as the two digimon fought. TK urged his partner on as Davis stared in shock. ~He was going to attack me. And with his digimon no less!~  
  
The two-rivaled digimon measured the other as they circled around. Angemon was glaring angrily obviously as upset as partner, but this was because they upset Angewomon as well as Kari greatly. Raidramon growled menacingly in response. Of course he's not happy, they tried to attack his defenseless partner. The two digimon charged.  
  
"HAND OF FATE!" Angemon cried as his fist drove forward.   
  
Raidramon's speed allowed him to dodge and fire. "THUNDER BLAST!"  
  
"GO FOR IT RAIDRAMON!" Davis yelled in support of his partner.  
  
At this point, Tai, who happened to still be very angry, told WarGreymon to join in. As the fight kicked up a notch, Raidramon let out a howl. What he and Davis did not quite expect was for there to be an answering howl.  
  
The three fighting digimon paused in surprise as a wolf-like digimon appeared. A cloaked figure jumped off the digimon's back and stopped a couple feet away from Davis. He stared. The others stared. Gray smiled. The cloaked figure's digimon howled again and attention was drawn to it.   
  
The digimon was basically a very large wolf with armored plates on its paws. There was an armored plate on its face and only the eyes were visible. Rows of dangerously sharp teeth became visible as the digimon growled and bared those and a pair of wicked fangs as well. Its fur was silver and blue with the armor being black. Another howl came out and it moved forward. Unsure of the intentions all the digimon prepared to fight. The figure stepped towards Davis and he warily backed away. "It's me. Shatora."  
  
"Shatora?" Then it clicked. ~The voice in my head it was her!~ "Shatora! You made it!"  
  
The figure nodded, pleased. "Care for some help?"  
  
Davis looked at the still-unidentified digimon. "Is that your digimon?"  
  
"Yep." She held up an advanced-looking Digital Analyzer. She read, "Wolcramon. An armor Digimon. This ferocious wolf-like Digimon is known for its speed and strength. If you're not careful, you'll get a taste of its 'Wolf Cry Shatter' or 'Fang Fury' attacks. Both are devastating and can get in a hit on any opponent. There is also another unknown attack of this Digimon but it remains unknown as none of its kind have used it and survived."  
  
"Cool. Let's do this and get out of here!"  
  
"You got it. Wolcramon!" The digimon awaited a request. "Go for it! Get Angemon and WarGreymon! The other is Raidramon an' he's not our enemy!"  
  
"Same goes for you Raidramon!"  
  
The digimon nodded to their partners and turned towards the opposing digimon growling. The other digidestined stared in disbelief as this exchange went on. "I'd hate to do this, but...Come on everyone! We have to team up and put out these two. One's an enemy and the other might as well be one since he's teamed up with this strange, enemy guy."  
  
(A/N: To the others Shatora is still an unknown figure and don't know "he's" a she.)   
  
Tai looked to the others. Slowly they moved forward to aid WarGreymon and Angemon.  
  
"Perfect," Davis mumbled, "How do we get out of this one?"  
  
"Simple," Shatora replied, "We team up and take them out. I could do it by myself though."  
  
Davis stared at her incredulously. "Sou desu ka [Oh really]?"   
  
"Yep. Just watch and I'll let you know when to call your digimon so we can get out of here before they recover."  
  
"Alright. Do it." Davis turned to Raidramon. "Hey! Raidramon!" The digimon looked towards hid partner. "Stand down! These two say they can handle the others by themselves." Raidramon had an are-these-people-crazy-or-something-expression on his face, but he backed off. The Wolcramon only gave what looked like a smirk. Tai had a confused look, but leadership took over as he told WarGreymon to attack. TK followed suit, telling Angemon to charge the Digimon as well.  
  
"HAND OF FATE!"  
  
"NOVA BLAST!" Both attacks flew towards the still unmoving Wolcramon. The wolf-Digimon smirked and in a flash, was gone. The fire and light attacks hit empty air.  
  
"What?! Where'd that thing go?!" Tai was alarmed by the unknown Digimon's speed.   
  
Wolcramon spoke, "I believe it's my turn. WOLF CRY SHATTER!" The ground shook violently as Wolcramon loosed a loud howl. The howl was so strong that the vibrations coming from it were destroying all in its path. Angemon and WarGreymon were unable to get out of range and took a direct hit. Lucky for them, the attack was not aimed to kill. They were knocked back a good distance into the ground and forced to de-digivolved to their in-training forms. Shocked at the Digimon's strength, Tai and TK rushed to their partners' sides.   
  
"You two okay?" The two in-training digimon nodded and looked warily at Wolcramon. Matt and the others, however, were not happy about this chain of events and decided to take action. Matt looked back, "Okay. I think it's time to do something. Let's get that Wolcramon out of commission first." The other Digidestined nodded their agreement and told their Digimon to attack Wolcramon.  
  
"Well, well. Don't tell me you're mad at me. Let's see. I now get to face a Digmon, a Halsemon, a WereGarurumon, a Birdramon, a MegaKabutarimon, and maybe an Angewomon. Will the little Angewomon attack or is her partner too weak to get her to attack? Hmmmm."   
  
The taunting got to Angewomon and she pushed forward, leaving a still upset Kari behind. This did not escape Shatora's attention. ~Hmmm...this has gotten to her, more so than I thought. There could be more here.~  
  
----------  
  
Across the field, the fight raged on.  
  
Birdramon and Halsemon flew around Wolcramon as a decoy/distraction. Wolcramon didn't buy it and started to move away. At the same time, the other Digimon attacked. "WOLF CLAW!"   
  
"ROCK CRACKIN'!"   
  
"GOLDEN ARROW!"   
  
"ELECTRO SHOCKER!" The four attacks combined and formed a powerful force, heading straight for a currently evasive Wolcramon. Wolcramon spun around and fired. "FANG FURY!" In an instant, Wolcramon disappeared and again the attack missed. Unfortunately, Wolcramon had moved so fast that Birdramon and Halsemon were still in range.   
  
*BOOM*  
  
The spiral of four attacks hit the two digimon. On top of that, Wolcramon's attack wasn't finished. A flurry of fangs and claws came from what seemed like all directions. They de-digivolved to their baby forms.   
  
"Oh no!" Sora and Yolei ran to their fallen partners. Both were out cold.  
  
"Ouch. That had to hurt. You digidestined should be more careful with your aim," Wolcramon was enjoying this.   
  
"Man who are you?!" An angry Matt demanded of Shatora.  
  
"I'd pay more attention to this fight if I were you," Wolcramon cut in.  
  
"Finish this Wolcramon. No more games."  
  
"GAMES!" The other digidestined looked bewildered.  
  
Wolcramon gave a smirk. "WOLF CRY SHATTER!" Again the ground shook and vibrations from the primal howl laid a destructively wide path and -again- hit target.   
  
"No!" The other digidestined looked at the dominant Digimon.   
Wolcramon stood towering over the now unconscious in training and baby digimon. "See? Told you Wolcramon could handle it." Shatora was speaking to Davis. "Wolcramon! Come on, we'll come back later. Where's the next point?"  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Let me get this straight. You're a girl?!"  
  
Shatora turned to a disbelieving Matt. "Oh yes. Should I have mentioned this?"  
  
Davis simply looked at Shatora. "Can I ask what you look like under there? Can't exactly see. It's no wonder they didn't know you're a girl until you spoke."  
  
Shatora shrugged, not caring. She removed the cloak. Under the cloak, stood a fairly gorgeous girl. Shatora stood to be like an inch or so shorter than TK. Long blue hair gleamed a deep violet in the sunlight. She was wearing black fingerless gloves, black Amazon boots, black jeans shorts-frayed at the ends, a deep blue short-sleeved shirt, and a black vest. Slightly sun-kissed skin and dark violet eyes also stood out. Silence reigned as it all sank in. "What do you say, Davis? Shall we go now?"  
  
Davis snapped out of his trance and agreed, "Yeah, let's go."  
  
"WAIT!" Davis whipped around as Kari had appeared and grabbed his wrist. "Don't go Davis. Please can't we work this out somehow?" Hope shone in her eyes. ~Please, please don't go Davis...~  
  
~I'd hate to do this,~ Davis thought as he shook his head. He wretched his wrist from Kari's grip. "Oh no, I told you I'm gone for now. I'm not stopping this. So you'll just have to get on without me." A bitter smile surfaced. "Then again, that shouldn't be too hard. Since I'm sooo unimportant. I mean you did say that you didn't care anymore right?"   
  
Tears ran down Kari's face once more. "Davis! I didn't say that! I didn't mean it, you must know that!"  
  
"Sou desu ka [Oh really/Is that so]?" Davis narrowed his eyes and walked briskly away to Shatora. He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I'm ready. Let's go. Raidramon you're closer, so you grab Gray. You can't get me from here. In case we're 'blocked' again, I'll just ride with Shatora."   
  
Raidramon nodded, keeping an eye on Wolcramon. "You're a girl too, aren't you?"  
  
The wolf regarded Raidramon. "Yep. Sure am."  
  
Raidramon tilted his head and picked up Gray. "Now what Dai'?"  
  
Davis smiled at the nickname. "Go ahead to the next point." His partner looked worried. "Don't be so concerned, I'll be fine. Go on now."  
  
Raidramon complied and raced off to the direction Gray pointed out. Davis, Shatora, Cody, and Matt caught this motion. Wolcramon padded over and lowered herself so that her partner and Davis could climb on. Shatora made it up and held out her hand to Davis. Kari held out her hand as well. Just once more she tried to get Davis to change his mind. Davis looked between Shatora and Kari's outstretched hands. ~Saa [Well]? What do I do?~ He looked to Kari, gave a final smile...  
  
----------  
  
A sinister laugh echoed through the chamber as the shrouded-figure looked on in dark amusement.  
  
----------  
  
Kari's hand remained where it was. She stared at Davis...or rather the empty space that was Davis. He wasn't there anymore. Gone.  
  
-----------  
  
...and took Shatora's hand. ~It's not forever.~ Davis repeated this in his head as he looked down for Wolcramon's back. "Goodbye." That was the last thing heard as Wolcramon sped away in the same direction as Gray and Raidramon. South.   
----------  
  
Bwahahahaha! K. Gomen, if it was remotely long. Saa, finished, nnn...finally. Yep, that's my chapter. Make sure to read the next, n' review this one k? Daikari flames and such stupid things will be laughed at and become a source of entertainment for my muses' destructive tendencies. 


	7. Chapter 6 by Toxic Picnic

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Chapter 6: The Shadow Leers  
  
A flash of violet light followed by a shockwave marked the activation of another Sternenheimat. Davis stared at the disappearing Digiports then turned towards Gray.  
  
"Shall we go?" He asked. Gray was for it, but Veemon wasn't. He flopped down on the ground and groaned.  
  
"What's wrong?" Davis asked. Veemon responded by groaning.  
  
"Hungry?" Gray inquired. Another groan.  
  
"Hot?" Davis continued. Groan. He turned to Gray.  
  
"OK, he's hungry and hot. We could do with a rest anyway, so did you see anything."  
  
"I saw an oasis back there. It should be in walking distance." Gray replied. Davis picked up Veemon and cradled him in his arms.  
  
"Shall we go?" Davis asked. Gray smirked and nodded. They walked for about five minutes before they got to the Oasis. Davis splashed some water in his face as Veemon devoured everything in sight. Grey took a bite out of a pear and smiled contentedly. He and Davis sat down at the edge of the crystal clear water and talked.  
  
"I can't believe people actually thought they were going to use this place for a vacation or anything like that. The Digital World isn't some vacation resort or anything of the sort." Gray criticized people's ideas of what the Digital World is. Davis nodded but didn't say anything. It reminded his of his friends.his used to be friends. Davis couldn't help wonder where his friends were right now.  
  
"Alright here's the deal, even though Davis used to be our friend that can't stop us from hitting him with full force. He's being manipulated by that Shatora person. We go in, take Davis by force if necessary to a secluded place, and we get him to tell us what's going on. I don't care if he doesn't want to talk, he's going to." Tai laid out the situation to the other Digidestined. Mimi had used a Digiport in America and Joe was currently riding Ikkakumon over to Russia to use a Digiport there.  
  
"A very good plan, with only one tiny little flaw. That Wolcramon beat every one of our Digimon single handedly! We don't stand a chance against it." Matt shot at Tai.  
  
"We have Weregarurumon, Wargreymon, Aquillamon, and Garudamon hold it off while the others go and get Davis." Tai replied. The other Digidestined agreed to it, but Kari simply stared at her feet the whole time. Tai noticed that Kari wasn't doing anything and held her back while the others set off and looked for Davis.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked her worriedly. She looked ready to cry.  
  
"Kari?"  
  
"IT'S ALL MY FAULT TAI, ALL MY FAULT!!!" Kari screamed. Tai looked surprised for a minute, but when he composed himself he asked,  
  
"What are you talking about?" Kari was crying into his shoulder, but she managed to tell him what she had said to Davis. Tai looked shocked.  
  
"You said THAT to him. I understand why he left." Tai said more to himself rather than to Kari.  
  
"You see. It is my entirely fault he left. It's my fault he's doing this." Kari sobbed. Tai saw differently however.  
  
"Davis may be mad at you because you told him that, but that doesn't give him a reason to shut the Digital World up. Look, when we get him you can talk to him and say your sorry right to his face." Kari brightened a little bit.  
  
"Thanks Tai." She said.  
  
"Anytime." He smiled.  
  
The Digidestined had all split up in search of Davis. T.K rode on Pegasusmon heading down towards a desert. How dare he hurt Kari like that? When I find him, I'll get even with him for that. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a flash of light.  
  
"T.K. I think one of those things was just activated again." Pegasusmon told him. The light had come from a canyon just to the left of their trajectory.  
  
"Let's go." T.K. said harshly. They flew down into the rocky plateaus. Raidramon was running along the ground with Davis and Gray on his back, but he hadn't noticed the flying Digimon above him. T.K. E-mailed the others and then came in closer to Davis.  
  
"STOP!" He shouted at Davis. He and Gray looked up and frowned.  
  
"GO AWAY!" He yelled back. It was hard to hear since they were speeding along.  
  
"STOP OR I'LL MAKE YOU STOP!" T.K. bellowed with anger. And Davis did stop. Pegasusmon flew past him about ten feet.  
  
"BLUE THUNDER!" Raidramon fired a blast of cackling blue lightning that Pegasus barely dodged. Davis and Gray dismounted Raidramon, as T.K. did his Digimon. Pegasusmon retaliated by firing a hail of stars at Raidramon who dodged out of the way. Meanwhile, Davis went straight up to T.K. who fell back hard when he was pushed.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shouted at the Blonde Digidestined. T.K. narrowed his eyes then got up and tackled Davis. "I should ask you the same question!" T.K. shot back. "How could you hurt Kari like that? Don't you care about her at all?" Davis pushed him off. Gray was watching with bewilderment from the side. "Why don't you shut up 'oh great one'." Davis said mockingly. "You couldn't possibly understand that." They both got up.  
  
"Try me." Sneered T.K.  
  
"Fine." Davis was sick of everyone ignoring him and his feelings. "I saw you and Kari in the park with your lips on hers. Dammit, did you even care if I loved her? Did you even pay attention?" T.K. was surprised that the other said he 'loved' but figured it was just Davis exaggerating. They were now circling each other like they were in a boxing ring.  
  
"She made her choice and it was me. You'll just have to accept that." T.K.'s blood was boiling.  
  
"Hmm, let's see here, could you have at least told me that she chose you. No! You had to let me find out for myself." Davis shouted at his opponent.  
  
"Well, I guess Kari is right. You are just a spoiled little brat!"  
  
WHAM! Blood spattered onto the ground as Davis punched T.K., splitting his lip. T.K. hit the ground with tremendous force. The next second Davis was on top of him letting loose a flurry of punches into T.K.'s neck, chest, and stomach. Through the explosion of pain the blonde managed to raise his fist and hit Davis. His fist connected squarely on the Digidestined's nose. The punching stopped, and T.K. managed to get up and open his eyes. Davis had also just gotten up and was looking at the other with hatred. They both got up as Raidramon shot Pegasusmon out of the air with his Thunder Blast. At that exact moment Kari showed up and Nefertimon fired a beam at the wall to stop the two from fighting. Davis saw her and cursed loudly. Kari jumped off of the armor Digimon. She ran over to them yelling, "Wait Davis, don't leave!" At this, what was left of Davis's patience dissolved.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I'M NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHY I'M DOING THIS!" Davis shouted at the top of his lungs at the pair. T.K. probably would have launched himself at Davis, if his big brother hadn't shown up right then. The rest of the Digidestined were with him.  
  
"Oh dear me, they're actually going to try and take him by force." Shatora watched the Digidestined dismount their partners and turn towards Davis. Pegasusmon and Raidramon had stopped fighting then. Pegasusmon joined his allies while Raidramon went to protect his partner. "Should I, or do you want to?" Shatora asked the other figure in the room he glanced at the girl, at the screen, and then finally back to Shatora. "Allow me." He smirked. Black energy gathered up around the boy, then faded away. He had disappeared.  
  
"Davis, just tell us why you're doing this and we'll stop bothering you." Tai called to him. Davis was just about to answer when someone else spoke.  
  
"Come now Davis. Tell them why you're doing this. You don't want to disappoint your friends. Or do you?" Everyone stopped dead. The voice sent shivers down their spines, and there was an odd echo to it, as if it were coming from the walls.  
  
"What's the matter?" Said the voice mockingly. "Cat got your tongue?"  
  
"Come out now." Tai shouted, but there was a quiver in his voice.  
  
"I am out." Replied the voice.  
  
"Where is he?" Whispered Ken in fear.  
  
"Right here." Hissed the voice. This time it sounded material though.  
  
Everyone turned, expecting to see some hulking figure. Instead, there was a boy with dark black hair and wicked black eyes staring at them. Everything about him was expressionless, except for his eyes. They danced with malice, and looking into them gave the impression that you were looking into a deep pit, in which an unknown evil lurked. There was absolute silence which remained until it was broken by.  
  
"Hello Shade." Gray nodded. The boy smiled and looked at his addresser.  
  
"Top of the morning to you." He smiled. It made most of the Digidestined flinch. They didn't know why, but he made them uneasy.  
  
"Davis this is my.coordinator. I'm not sure what his real name is, but he's called Shade." Shade's dark eyes moved to Davis, who felt himself unnerved.  
  
"But of course, I am only a servant of the Digital World like you. However, I think you should tell these lovely people about why you're doing what you are." It felt like the child's eyes were boring holes into his soul, making him dare not question what he was asking.  
  
Davis turned towards the others and looked across their faces. Most of them looked petrified, but Davis scrounged up the courage to speak.  
  
"This world," he began "is one of the most beautiful places ever. The colors, the sky, everything about it. I love it here. Soon vacationers and scientists will come here. They will destroy this world; rip it apart in order just to understand it. We are setting up this firewall, to protect this place, so only the chosen may enter.or leave." Davis finished, and saw that their faces were no longer frozen with fear.  
  
Tai's was mingled with fury. He looked about ready to explode. Matt and Sora were both taking deep breaths not to start shouting. T.K. was looking like he was already for round two, Kari was looking depressed, and Izzy looked stern. The rest of them actually were looking half interested though. The first person to speak was Yolei.  
  
"Davis, I actually agree with you." Everyone was staring at her.  
  
"Yolei, you can't possibly b-" Began T.K. but he was cut short by the lavender haired girl.  
  
"Can it T.K. Anyway what I was going to say is that I think this world shouldn't be dissected just for a scientist's curiosity." Izzy looked visibly offended by this. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to join you."  
  
Davis was speechless for a second, but then he turned towards Shade and Gray. Shade had a victorious look on his face, and Gray was nodding.  
  
"Sure." Davis said.  
  
"I'd like to come too." People were even more surprised as Cody stepped up.  
  
"Of course." Joy was coming into Davis's face.  
  
"You can count me in."  
  
"Me too." Joe and Mimi had just spoken up.  
  
"I'm with you Davis." Ken walked over to him. By now there was a broad grin on the boy's face.  
  
"You guys. You're real friends." Davis almost had a tear in his eye. "Don't forget us!" All the Digimon shouted. "Where you go, I go!"  
  
"Excellent!" Cried Shade. "Now Gray will you please escort these loyal people to my base. I will be there shortly." Gray nodded and braced himself. Shade raised his fingers, and snapped them. Dark energy surrounded those with and including Davis. It covered them, and then faded away. They had disappeared.  
  
"What the hell did you do?" Tai shouted with surprise. Shade didn't answer, that question, but told them, "Get out now." His voice had changed. It sounded like a demon was speaking in unison with him, and Dark energy began to surround his body.  
  
"What?" Izzy sounded confused.  
  
"Get out of this world, now! You've been.evicted. Either you leave now, or I'll make you leave!" The Digidestined were backing away, but Tai managed to summon up the courage to yell, "We're not leaving! You get out!" Shade sneered. "I think not. You're lucky this little problem isn't worthy of my personal attention." He turned towards the mountain side next to him.  
  
"MEGIDRAMON!" He called. The mountain side shook. A few seconds later it exploded showering everything with rocks. The Digidestined had to duck and cover not to be crushed by the remains of the mountain.  
  
Where the mountain used to be a Digimon was floating. It was huge and vicious looking, with a muscular red body. Its underbelly was white and in the center of its chest was a symbol that was four triangles, three touching a different point on the center triangle. It had shoulder pads with the same symbols. The massive red wings turned yellow at their bat like ends. There were no legs, but one long tail that ended in a bone arrow- head. On its head was the same symbol, and four horns that stuck out in the back. Probably the most terrifying thing about this Digimon was that it had completely yellow eyes that showed pure insanity. It roared sending out a terrible noise which made the Digidestined cover their ears.  
  
"Megidramon, kill them!" Shade commanded the huge Digimon.  
  
"This is impossible! The power of Owikawa should protect this place from evil Digimon." Izzy cried out. Shade laughed a completely mirthless laugh as Megidramon flew overhead.  
  
"You mean that pathetic power that I sealed away. That couldn't restrain a dog, and as for those four Digimon Sovereign" He put mocking emphasis on the word "that fight was just as boring." He held up a ball of energy. Inside were the four Digimon Sovereign, who it seemed were being tortured somehow.  
  
Megidramon prevented them from seeing any more because he landed right in front of them.  
  
Shade disappeared, probably off to go with the others while Megidramon bared down menacingly on them. Tai took action.  
  
"Sora, you and Garudamon get everyone to a safe place. Everyone else attack!" This plan didn't work however, because the very first thing the massive creature did was attack Garudamon.  
  
"Crimson Stare!" It hissed. They were lucky that Garudamon wasn't holding anyone, because Megidramon's eyes turned red. A scarlet aura covered the bird Digimon, immobilizing her. Garudamon let out a scream a second before her foe wrapped its body around her forcing out wind.  
  
"ATTACK!" Everyone yelled. The remaining Digimon charged in, intent on liberating their friend. Instead, Megidramon threw Garudamon at them, smashing into Megakabuterimon and Weregarurumon.  
  
The battle continued in this fashion. Even the mighty Wargreymon couldn't hold a candle to the giant Digimon. Megidramon whipped his tail tearing Wargreymon's golden armor. It was plainly obvious that their enemy was growing tired of the fight. It brought it swiftly to an end by unleashing it's most powerful attack.  
  
Shoving its hands into the rock Megidramon bellowed, "Terra Hazard!" The ground began to shake violently and giant cracks began to form in the rocks. The ground exploded showering rocks everywhere. The Digidestined fell into a large hole. Tai tired to grab Kari but a rock fell on his legs tearing him from her grip. The rain of rocks pounded down, and the Digidestined blacked out. Miles away, in an unknown base, Shade laughed delightedly. 


	8. Chapter Seven By bodrj

Even the Purest Light casts A Shadow Chapter Seven by Bodrj  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own digimon or any associated characters. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this.  
  
"We'll be forever trying to escape this way!" Tai cursed. He slumped to the floor leaving his arms to rest from hurling rocks. "If only we could blast our way out."  
  
"We know that's impossible with our digimon unconscious right now Tai, we have to find some way out of here," Matt answered still digging. "We don't know how long we'll be here before they wake up and how long those rocks above our head are going to stay that way. They could come down at any time." Tai hung his head as he got up.  
  
"It's just, the others just abandoned us. I bet they don't even care what's happened to us," he kept digging for stress relief."  
  
"I bet they don't even know," Sora sighed. In front of her lay six in- training digimon. All breathing but nothing else. She even wondered if they were dream they'd been so hard in the process of protecting their respecting partners. Kari was next to her, everyone else had started digging.  
  
"It should be just a little further," Izzy spoke. "I'm absolutely positive I saw a tunnel here before it caved in."  
  
"Are you sure Izzy?" T.K asked hurling a boulder away. "Even if there was, how do you know that the rest of it hasn't caved?"  
  
"There's a good chance it hasn't There were structures holding the ceiling from collapsing, it's not a natural cave. Something made it."  
  
"That's reassuring," Matt replied. "Hey! I made a break through!" There was a gust of wind from a small hole.  
  
"Careful, if this formation of rock caves in again the ones above us come down, be careful," Izzy almost ordered. He moved over next to Matt. "Take them from the top and work down."  
  
There was a slow scramble to bring the pile down. They were careful not cause another cave in. Just the light taps of rocks being laid down behind them. The hole got bigger gradually, as Matt and Izzy passed the rocks to Tai and T.K behind who laid them down out of the way and softly. There was echo of rock fall somewhere that either seemed very small or very far away.  
  
"Ah!" T.K shouted out. "Dammit, I have dust in my eye," he rubbed them furiously and took a step back. Matt and Izzy stopped. Matt had no idea what he was complaining about. Izzy looked up. A ray of light cracked through. That wasn't there before. His mouth hung open in fear, his throat dried up and he could barely speak.  
  
"Dig," he croaked. Matt and Tai looked at him puzzled. They followed his gaze. "Dig."  
  
"Oh shit," Matt cursed and turned back to the pile. He began raking rocks out of the formation.  
  
"Sora, Kari, get the digimon and get ready to make a run," Tai ordered. He came to their side and picked up Koromon and Tsunomon. T.K had Tokomon in his arms. Sora picked up Yokomon and Motimon. Salamon in the arms of Kari.  
  
Matt and Izzy were now tearing into the pile and rolling the debris away. There was a quake and the four not digging cringed, waiting for the surface above them to collapse. "Guys," Tai started.  
  
"It'll have to do," Matt answered. "Everyone through!"  
  
"You first Kari!" Tai ushered as they started forming a line. Kari bent down and crawled through the gap created. "Sora," she followed suit. Izzy was after.  
  
"You next Tai," he pointed. Tai was reluctant to not be the last but there was no time to argue. He bent over and stepped through. At that moment there was an ear shattering quake and the level above was shaken free. Matt's eyes widened along with his gasp. He jerked backwards and banged his head on the pile behind him before sinking through the tunnel created.  
  
T.K held him from underneath the arms as Matt looked up, dazed. "Thanks T.K," he mentioned sitting back to get his sight back.  
  
"Looks like I have to start looking after you these days," T.K answered. "Where are we?"  
  
"It seems to be a grid of tunnels, and from the looks of it man or mon made, to an accurate detail," Izzy answered. "Their no fluke, they were built for a good reason."  
  
"I don't think this place we're staying is too stable, perhaps we should somewhere else to rest," Sora suggested.  
  
"Good idea, if we take left turns only we won't get lost from this original spot, come on everyone," Tai set out with Koromon. The rest followed silently.  
  
"What are we doing next?" Davis asked, kicking back on a bed. DemiVeemon sat on his stomach whilst the digidestined closed his eyes not caring what the answer was, he just wanted to break the silence. "I'm guessing we carry on activating more Sternenheimats," Gray answered he sat solemnly away from the group.  
  
"Ster-what?" Yolei asked.  
  
"Sternenheimats, they were the crystal points where we erected the firewall point by point, we still have more to activate to in sense quarantine the digital world."  
  
"Now I just want to check this before we dive in," Ken jumped in. "After the firewall is up, we can still get in and out of the digital world."  
  
"Yes, theoretically, anybody with one of these," he held up a digivice. "Can get past the firewall, its unique signature acts as a password."  
  
"See?" Davis said. "It'll be nobody but us."  
  
"I couldn't help but notice the word theoretically in that sentence," Cody spoke. Gray shrugged.  
  
"I will always be here, if something is wrong, I can correct it from here, and if necessary I will deactivate the firewall."  
  
"After all the trouble we'd go through to activate it?" Gray turned to Ken.  
  
"We are still children of this world, chosen by it, to protect it, what use would it be if it was in danger and you could not get through a blockade?"  
  
"Touché," Ken responded. "How many more of these points are there?"  
  
"I believe Davis and I have covered a large area of the digital world, still much is needed to be done, we must now cover the other three domains in order to block off the entire world."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Yolei burst out. "You just told us it took forever to get this far! Now we have three times as much to do?"  
  
"Except now there's more of us," Ken pointed out. "We can cover more ground this way right?" Gray nodded.  
  
"We still need more equipment to accommodate everyone who has now joined us. More D4's are required so that you can go out on your own," Gray explained. "So now we have the chance to rest up here before we set out again."  
  
"How long have we been walking?" Kari asked. Izzy looked at his watch. It told him an hour but he didn't want to say, he pretended he didn't hear. The tunnels got darker as they made a logical progression of left turns. Then they started to descend, going further into the core of the digital world. It got to a point where they could barely see in front of them, at which point Matt revealed a lighter and they used it for a torch. Sora was quite intent to ask where it came from but considering the situation, she was thankful for it.  
  
"Izzy?" He snapped to attention having being asked. He had been trailing away in thought trying to map where they had been. "How long have we been walking?" He swallowed hard. Did he lie? Morale would be affected, but should he hide anything?  
  
"I think maybe half hour to an hour," he answered. The quiet voice of Kari didn't reply. He could see her walking ahead, and somebody next to her, he wondered if it was Tai or T.K but then realized he had bigger things to worry about. The small light ahead faded out.  
  
"Damn! My lighter is out of gas," Matt grunted. "How are we going to see now?"  
  
"Wait there's a light ahead," Tai responded.  
  
"What is it? It may be more trouble," T.K answered. "Do we want to walk into it?" There was silence.  
  
"Ok, here's the plan," Tai started. "Me, Matt and T.K go check it out. If anything happens, Izzy you get the girls out of here."  
  
"Why are you guys always going instead of us?" Sora demanded to know. "I'm going too."  
  
"I'll stay with Kari," T.K added.  
  
"Fine. Matt, Sora and me then, you guys stay here." The three staying behind couldn't even tell if they had gone yet.  
  
Tai didn't know if he was the first to be creeping along the corridor, he couldn't see enough in front of him, all he could do was concentrate on the light ahead. It was just a speck at the moment, but he could tell it was nearer, just around the corner.  
  
"Ah!" Tai screamed as he was attacked from behind. He fell face first into the dirt below him. He spun around on his back and crooked his knees, ready to kick back against whatever it was.  
  
"Sorry," Sora whispered. Tai breathed a sigh of relief. "Who is that?"  
  
"It's me, Tai, where's Matt?"  
  
"Right here," Matt said quite normally. Tai couldn't see, but he knew he was just strolling down the middle of the tunnel compared to his own, crouch and sneak technique.  
  
"Ok, just keep behind me so we know where we all are, and take my hand Sora, Matt you take Sora's, so we don't lose each other." They went on as a train. Each linked to each other. "Its getting brighter, we're almost there, careful now." Tai started as he tiptoed forward. He came to a corner and leant up against the wall. His neck craned as he looked around the corner.  
  
An incredible force grabbed him and shook intensely. "Ah!" The scream deafened all around to hear it.  
  
"Davis! Wake up!" Yolei had him by the shoulders, shaking furiously. "Get up Davis, we're going!"  
  
"Ah! Ok! I'm up! I'm up!" Davis sprung to attention immediately to see the others ready for departure. Veemon looked up at Ken.  
  
"Why doesn't that work when I do it?" Ken raised a hand to whisper a reply.  
  
"Because you're not as scary as Yolei." At that point she twisted her head to glare at the conspirators who stood to military attention at that stare.  
  
"What do you think it is guys?" Tai's neck craned. The source of light was a single pillar, unnatural and yet it seemed to be a part of the very existence of the earth around them. Curved bricks made a perfect rounded shape as it spanned from the ground, to the ceiling above them. Each end rooted firmly in place.  
  
Over that were layers of moss and other plant life lay on it, sucking warmth from the clear white light that emanated from it. All what seemed to be fifty feet.  
  
"Ask Izzy," Matt answered as he awed at it. Tai didn't want to turn away.  
  
"Izzy, what is it?" he asked as if he was right next to him.  
  
"He's back up the tunnel Tai," Matt explained. Tai turned round and cupped his hands.  
  
"HEY IZZY GET DOWN HERE! YOU NEED TO CHECK THIS OUT!" The echo lasted forever.  
  
"Tai, not only does Izzy know where we are," Sora responded. "But so does what ever life is down here." He didn't pay attention much of course.  
  
Izzy snapped up as he heard Tai's voice break through the air of the tunnels with unbelievable force. "I guess you guys should come too," he spoke to pitch black as he got up." He heard the sound of Earth being moved as the other two got up.  
  
"Tai? Do you think that shouting was necessary? Anyone could have heard us. Whoah!" Izzy's neck craned. "I suppose you want me to tell you what it is?"  
  
"That's about it," Matt answered. "You think its one of those places where Davis and that guy started making that wall?"  
  
"Without knowing where exactly we are, I couldn't say yes," Izzy answered. "But I think you hit the nail on the head."  
  
"VOLCANIC STRIKE!" All too familiar words that caused Tai and Matt to split form their centre, dragging Sora and Izzy with them as a tornado of molten hot energy blasted past them before bouncing harmlessly off a force field around the pillar. A Monochromon stood at the cave entrance and charged in on the defenseless digi-destined. "None will stand in the path of Lord Shade!"  
  
"You're working for that creep?!" Tai shouted. The dinosaur digimon prepared to charge him down.  
  
"T.K, what can we do?" Kari asked raising a finger to her mouth and biting it nervously. T.K grew and grimace.  
  
"I don't know if only we had our digimon awake right now," T.K answered as the two watched from the shades. Tai slid across the ground . "Tai! Are you ok?" The elder leader struggled to get up and held his chest.  
  
"You're just going to pick on somebody smaller than you?" He shouted. Then turned to the two younger, hiding for the time being. "Agumon! Agumon wake up I need you!" He was interrupted by a huge tail knocking further down the tunnel. He slumped at the end of his trip. "Agumon!"  
  
The small pink Koromon stirred. "Tai?"  
  
"Koromon! Wake up!" Tai spluttered into a cough. Koromon's eyes snapped open wide.  
  
"I heard you Tai! I'm here!" Tai's digivice glowed.  
  
'Koromon digivolve to Agumon!'  
  
"Pepper Breath!" The small fire ball attack hurtled and bounced off of Monochromon's skin, making him cringe a little before forgetting Tai.  
  
"That's it for you pal!" Tai held his digivice up. Agumon began to glow.  
  
'Agumon digivolve to Greymon!' An equal digmon now stood in the tunnels. Monocromon wasted no time in charging the champion digimon of courage down. Greymon crooked his knnes and grabbed Monochromon by the horn, stopping him in his tracks. Then with a rush of strength, toppled him over.  
  
Greymon was intent on finishing off Monochromon and loomed over to make sure it would end.  
  
"VOLCANIC STRIKE!" The heat blast collided with Greymon, knocking him off of his feet. When Greymon got up, the opposition had turned tail and disappeared, the earthquakes were the only sign of how near his presence was.  
  
"He's gone," T.K confirmed. "Are you ok Tai?" The brown haired boy stood up clutching his chest.  
  
"A couple of bruises, but I think I'll survive," he smiled.  
  
"I think we'll have to move quickly, that Monochromon will undoubtedly alert a more powerful digimon or Shade himself to our presence here," Izzy started.  
  
"No," Tai snapped back. "First we find out what this is, we don't know when we'll find another and I want to know if it's connected to that Shade guy." Izzy conceded.  
  
"Alright, but we're staying too long, and we go if I can't figure it out." Tai nodded in agreement. Izzy inspected the column and wondered around it. From the back there was a machine plugged in through some hole in the column. There was an I/O port and Izzy grabbed his laptop.  
  
"What is it?" Matt asked overlooking. Izzy tapped on.  
  
"Well, the language is very old and basic, but cryptic," he carried on. "I think you were right Matt, this is one of those points. And its called a Sternenheimat."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's what those points are called, but there's just one thing, its son strange."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Well this machine I'm connected too, it's not apart of the program, it was added for some reason," he stopped typing. "It's not boosting the power, but redirecting it."  
  
"You mean somebody is controlling the power these things have?" Sora asked herself. Izzy nodded. "But who would do that?" 


End file.
